MY FOUR G.E.M.S.

my four gems

2011-12-29T08:42:00.000-05:00

I got nothing. (aka merry christmas greetings)

2011-12-20T23:05:00.001-05:00

I got nothing. That is the title of this Christmas letter. How many times can I tell you how awesome my kids are, how wonderful life is, how I relish the crazy, how involved we are in a variety of things, how sports consume our life, how sunny the sun shines in my area, without you starting to wonder, is she for real???

Well I am. I am real. Here I am. And my realness is why you are not getting a Christmas photo/letter in the mail for the second year in a row. Because, friends, I got nothing. Nothing to say. It's hard. Life that is.

Not third world country hard. If that is the barometer, then my life is sunshine and roses every day. Truly. All of our lives are.

But in this reality, I got nothing to say. Things are hard. And I/we are muddling through.

I went back to work this year. That has been hard. My youngest struggles in school. That has been hard. I have an almost teenager. That can be hard (okay, but secretly I do love it!). My marriage is hard. I don't like my dog. Can you relate? Anyone?

So, here I am, real.

Not sending out my pretty pictures and pretty words, because I really have nothing to say that would sound too pretty. And that's all I wanted to say.

Except.

Jesus.

I want to say, thank you, Jesus, for being God yet deciding to come down as a lowly babe in a stinky barn. For living a life of love and dying for me. So that even when this life is hard, you have bigger plans for me.

Because when I have nothing, I still have You. And that is enough.

Be blessed with the miracle of a baby named Jesus. Merry Christmas.

He Loves Us So

2011-11-23T20:54:00.001-05:00

I had a hard day.

I was trying to process some stuff from earlier in the day and went on a run. I took my itouch for music, which is unusual, I usually run without it so I can pray or just enjoy creation. As I ran, the song Forever Reign by Hillsong came on.

As I began to listen, I was crying out to God to capture me with His presence, to fill me with His Spirit, to let me know He is here with me and I am not alone.

As the chorus began…

Oh, I’m running to Your arms,
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

…I felt myself running faster, trying to run to Him, and suddenly the wind started blowing hard against me out of nowhere. The wind surprised me, but I leaned in to it, kept running and closed my eyes, picturing my Lord with arms open wide and me running to him. I mouthed out loud into the wind “I’m running to Jesus, satan, and you can’t stop me!” Immediately, IMMEDIATELY, --I cry now thinking of it—Immediately, the strong wind that rose up and started pushing against me stopped dead.

I kept my eyes closed and ran to Jesus outstretched arms and my body filled with chills and tears sprang to my eyes as I realized He is here with me!!! He revealed his presence to me!! He stopped the wind, removed the obstacle that made it difficult to keep running to His arms. Nothing compares to Your embrace, Light of the world FOREVER REIGN.

I couldn’t believe that I had just had a tangible encounter with God. Satan had pushed against me, rising up the wind, and God stopped it as I told satan off and kept running to His arms. Oh readers, HE IS GOOD. HE LOVES US SO, in the dark and lonely places He is tender and lets us know He hasn’t forgotten us and cares about our pain.

As if this moment didn’t nearly take my breath away, the next song came up. David Crowder’s He Loves Us. “And I realize just how wonderful You are and how great Your affections are for me. He Loves Us, Oh How He Loves Us, Oh How He Loves Us so.”

Isaiah 26:8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your Truth, I wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of my heart.

Forever Reign by Hillsong:
You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I’m running to Your arms,
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
My heart will sing no other Name
Jesus, Jesus.

Once upon a time...

2011-11-23T09:12:00.001-05:00

There once was a mom who had four daughters and enjoyed staying at home for 12 grateful years. One day that mom realized that life is expensive and maybe she should contribute financially to the home,so with God's help (more like complete intervention) she landed a job in her former field of finance and now is attempting to learn how to navigate home/kids/family/life while pursuing and growing a potentially promising career. Hard.Interestingly, her sister, who enjoyed a grateful 17 years at home with her children, found herself in a similar situation, waking up one day to find herself at a desk Monday thru Friday from 8-5pm. She will be chronicling (yes i spellchecked chronicling and that is how you spell it even though it looks wierd) this transition here and this mom of GEMS will be following along to learn her tips/tricks/highs/lows of navigating this new normal. Join us.The end.

Forty dollars and Fear

2010-09-03T17:02:00.001-04:00

Be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24

Today, I feared the Lord.

It seems that I have always known that the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. It is one of those “popular” verses that we all know, but somehow lack true understanding of it’s meaning.

But, today. Today, I got to stare God right in the face. And I was fearful. Fearfully awestruck by His power, His abilities, His kindness, His love, His faithfulness, His largeness, His mysteriousness, His compassion, His patience, His majesty, His greatness. Power. My God has infinite POWER. And I fear Him.

Through a series of events in the last few weeks that only our awesome God would be kind enough to orchestrate, I got to experience the fear of the Lord. It all started a few weeks ago when, after being the recipient of several kind acts of generosity, and wanting to be able to pay it forward, I prayed to God, Please Lord, bless us so we can give generously to others, also!

However, in my narrow, fleshy, worldly-viewed mind, I confess I was only equating being able to give generously with dollar signs in mind. We have been in a financial desert for over a year and my mind has been consumed with my own need. Unbeknownst to me at the time, God thought it was time to teach me a lesson about giving generously…He showed me how it is really done.

And now, I fear the Lord.

Some family members had just moved to town, and they offered us the two year old washer and dryer the previous owners of their new home had left behind. We have a fairly new dryer, but our washer is 13 years old and I thought it would be great to get a nice, matching new pair of units.

A few days later, I had the delight of attending a ladies luncheon with dear, old friends and as talk turned to lamenting laundry (as it does when you have a group of 7 moms with 27 children between them!), one of the friends mentioned that her washer had just died. Knowing this friend is a single mom of 5 children and in a difficult financial situation, I thought, hmmm, maybe I could give her my 13 year old washer when we get the newer ones. After all, it still worked perfectly fine. I stored that thought in my mind, but mentioned nothing about it at that time.

A couple days later we were at our family’s new house and headed out to the garage to check out my new washer and dryer. As my husband and I entered the garage, into my mind entered a picture of my friend trying to wash clothing out in her bathtub the last few days for her and her 5 children. The moment I laid my eyes on the pretty new washer and dryer, I knew with certainty that they had to be hers. I told my husband quickly about her need revealed in passing conversation at the luncheon, and, explaining that we had a newer dryer and a perfectly workable old washing machine, I felt like we were supposed to give these new units to her. He quickly agreed because he is far more readily giving and generous than I could ever hope to be.

The next day while I was out, my generous, serving husband took it upon himself to call a friend who knew this friend in need, and they conference called her. When he told her that I had mentioned that one of her units had died and asked whether it was the washer or the dryer, she choked up and said that while it had just been the washer, the dryer had now also died that day. My husband informed her that we had a new washer and dryer that he would be delivering to her immediately. She burst into tears and I imagine my husband had a hard time holding back emotion as well.

Isn’t that awesome! Isn’t it neat how God uses seemingly small, insignificant details and weaves them together into a beautiful tapestry? I praised God for allowing us to be a part of His provision for this friend in need. For reminding us, that while we feel in need ourselves right now, that there are so many more people in greater need than we will ever be. I delighted that God had answered my prayer and shown me that He can give generously through us in means other than with dollar signs.

But did I experience fear of the Lord, my God? No. I should have. I am embarrassed that I didn’t. God owes me nothing. God, simply because of Who He Is, deserves to be feared. And, yet…flesh. It gets in the way. It covers our eyes. It covers our ears. It covers our minds. It covers our hearts. Oh, Lord, strip us of our flesh!

This story is already complete as a beautiful picture of God’s grace and mercy, faithfulness and provision. But He is Teacher, and He had more to teach this girl who now writes His story here.

When my husband brought the washer and dryer to the friend’s house, he learned from her that in order for the broken units to be removed from the apartment complex, the waste removal company would charge up to $50 a unit.

When he got home that night, those broken units were in the back of his truck.

He told me that his brother had just given him some cash for helping out with some projects at their new house, and he knew that our waste removal service would pick them up for $20 a unit. In as much financial need as we have felt we have been in the past year, he told me he could not think of one single thing we needed to spend $40 on that would bring more joy and satisfaction than paying to have our friend’s broken units hauled away from our house so she did not have to carry that burden.

Thank you, Lord, for revealing Yourself to me through my husband.

What an amazing God I (woefully, inadequately) serve! Once again, He gives generously to others through us, just as I prayed he would allow us to! It is NO coincidence that my husband happened to get some spare cash in hand at this exact moment in time. What a beautiful tapestry He wove through so many small, seemingly unrelated details!

What Power! What Might! Oh, that I would look upon my Lord and fear Him!….but, no, I did not fear the Lord yet. I loved Him, I praised Him, I was excited and felt so blessed to be used by the Lord for His glory to be revealed! But, God had more waiting for this knucklehead. This story wasn’t yet over.

Two nights ago, my husband hauled that washer and dryer down to our curb. During dinner the doorbell rang. It was neighbors stopping by to ask if the washer and dryer at the curb still worked. He told them that they did not and that waste service was going to pick them up the next morning.

That next morning, before 8am, he happens to peek out the front window and says, “That doesn’t look like Waste Management loading up the washer and dryer.” I look out and see that it is some men loading them into the back of their pickup. It was clear that they were “dumpster diving”, as they had some closet shelving, plastic patio furniture, and the like tied into the bed of the truck as well. I told my husband we should let them know that they don’t actually work, and since I was heading out at that moment I said I’d let them know.

I pulled out of the garage and headed down the driveway lowering my window, wondering if they were able to speak English and would even understand me. Just as I got to the end of the driveway they had finished and gotten in the truck and started it up. I decided to just let it go. As I pulled away I called my husband to tell him to call Waste Mgmt to let them know that we no longer needed the units disposed of, and I mentioned that maybe these men that took them would be able to fix them and use them. He agreed that they very well may be able to do that.

When I got off the phone, I felt an urge to pray for them, and I prayed that these men who took those units would, indeed, be able to figure out what was wrong with them and fix them and that they would be a blessing to their family. I started to think of how happy it would make my friend, to know that another family in need would have gotten her broken units and restore them to usefulness, and prayed some more, asking God to be with these dumpster diving men in the red pickup truck and help them to restore these broken units.

Again, I marveled at how cool God was in all of this, continually allowing family after family to pay generosity forward for His glory as he orchestrates every small detail into His woven tapestry.

The very next morning, this morning in fact, I am basking in the glow of being with my four dear sisters in Christ, as we have just kicked off our 5th year together as a small bible study group, and I am sharing this exciting God Story of the washer and dryer. As I get to the end with the men in the red pickup truck, my dear friend gets agitated and says she has something to add at the end.

Pretty soon, she is so agitated that she says her heart is pounding and she is going to have a panic attack with the need to share something about this story…On garbage morning, the day before, she had gone out for an early run (she lives in my neighborhood) and had seen the units sitting out at our curb. She knew the story up to this point and how we had decided to use the spare cash my husband had received to pay for them to be removed at our house.

As she came back to her street at the end of her run, she saw a red pickup truck of men dumpster diving. She prayed at that moment and asked the Lord to send those men to our house to take the washer and dryer so that we would be able to keep the $40, as she knows of our tight financial times right now. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Silence, my friends. Silence, shock, awe fell upon our little group.

Tears began to flow.

LET ALL THE EARTH FEAR THE LORD; LET ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD REVERE HIM.
Psalm 33:8

I wanted to bury my face in the ground. Hide my face in shame. God was too glorious to look at. Too much to face. Too Good. Too Generous. Too Perfect. Too Powerful. Too Almighty. Too Gracious. Too Merciful. Too Loving. Too Kind. Too Holy.

And I…me…I, in my weakness of flesh, in my doubt and insecurities, in my selfishness and sin, knew in that moment what it meant to fear the Lord.

I am a Triathlete!

2010-06-07T00:36:00.004-04:00

I know its been awhile!

I had actually been doing more blogging over at a blog my sisters and I all contribute to, and then kind of slacked off on that too.

Until now!

I just wrote a mega novel on the other blog about my experience doing my first sprint triathlon yesterday. I post as Goose.

I can't figure out how to make the link work, so to get to the blog and read my experience, go to:

www.wewawo.blogspot.com

or on the right side of my blog, click the Watching My Weight blog link.

ROOOMIE!!!

2010-02-24T13:53:00.001-05:00

I am trying to email you and it keeps coming back undeliverable! Email me so I have your current email and can send you my note!

So glad you found wewawo!

:)

Winter Wonderland...Georgia style

2010-01-08T09:09:00.004-05:00

This is what a snowy, metro-wide shut down looks like on our front lawn. I know, its really hysterical to my northern co-horts...this is just a typical beautiful looking day in September to you...hahaha.

However, down here, this level of dramatic dusting constitutes a total shut down and eggs, milk, and bread being torn off the shelves and arm wrestled for in the aisles of the grocery store in the days leading up to the impending doom. My neighbor coined the term "Survival Casserole" to explain what it is exactly people make with all the milk, eggs and bread people obsessively buy in the days leading up to the threat of snow in the south.

We all knew the hopeful possibility of a snow day today when we went to bed last night. When my alarm went off this morning, sure enough, the first thing I heard was that schools were closed metro-wide. For most all of you who don't understand this...the best explanation I can muster without laughing too hard is that, truly, we are not equipped down here at all to deal with any snow or ice on the roads. We have no salt/sand trucks heading out in the wee hours of the morning to make our commutes safe. People don't own shovels. Most have never heard of a snow plow. We are literally paralyzed by 1 inch of snowy dust on the ground and ice on the roads. Not to mention noone knows how to drive down here on anything less than sunny, dry pavement, so all our lives are at risk if we dared venture out on such a day as this. Better to just shut the city down and stay alive! :)

So back to the snow day...the kids gleefully put on a pathetic mish-mash of what they deemed "cold weather gear" and ran out to frolick in the...in the...in the...oh what a buzz kill. Grace contemplated laying on the patio to try a snow angel, and Sarah aparantly licked the ground. But that was about it. And being that it is only 15 degrees here, which is truly BRUTAL for the south, they quickly changed their plans, headed back in, popped some popcorn and headed down for some tv.

Ahhh, life in the south. We are so sheltered from the realities of my beloved Minnesotans up yonder. Go ahead and laugh at us, you deserve it, you people are hardy stock!

Merry Christmas letter 2009

2009-12-31T10:01:00.002-05:00

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay. The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

In 2009...

We enjoyed… birthday parties, a bedroom makeover, children’s choir, smiles, sleepovers, visits from family and friends, coffee dates, art class, family movie nights, church, dinner parties, family gatherings, swim meets, sweet friendships, fire pit evenings, ballet, beach vacations, giggles, dress up, dancing, Minnesota trips, hugs, tennis, lots of tooth fairy action, bible studies, laughter, joy, love, blessings, each other.

We endured… 2 broken arms, sister wars, chaos, lots of laundry, fights, tears, strong wills, meetings, discipline issues, overflowing paperwork, sleepless nights, illness, bills, car trouble, lost belongings, job angst, carpooling, a difficult economy, worry, fear, sadness, pain, sin.

We embraced…forgiveness, growth, comfort, healing, hope, peace, love, grace,…Jesus.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare Him room. And Heaven and nature sing!

Family Updates…

Evie Jill is a wonderful 5th grader who is blossoming into a lovely young lady both inside and out. She excels in year-round swimming, adores her friends, laughs maniacally and gestures wildly (some would say exactly like her mother), reads voraciously, and recently started tennis lessons.

Mady is a precious 3rd grader with a tender heart of gold. She is soft-spoken, imaginative, creative and tidy. She is excelling in a year-round art class, enjoys children’s choir and spending lots of time with her friends. She is our tiny treasure.

Sarah Rosy is a 1st grader and continues to be our little firecracker! She is enjoying children’s choir and becoming a great reader. It seems she lost about half her teeth at once over the summer, and also suffered a terrible break of both bones in her arm which she weathered for 10 weeks with her usual charm. From one mood swing to another, she keeps us laughing and loving her feisty and joyful personality, and admiring her compassionate and serving heart.

Gracie Goo, my partner, my sidekick. She is totally a mommy’s girl. It is my last year with her at home before I send her off into the world. She is ready. I am not. She is a deliciously lovable 4 ½ year old who is branching out with a ballet class. She is lost without her thumb and bunny, broke her arm this year, is learning to write letters, adores Sarah, and has spent the entire past year wearing orange.

CJ and I celebrated 14 years of marriage in May, and 20 years since our first date, on December 3. We are getting away by ourselves for a weekend this month, and are humbly grateful to our loving God for the kindness and grace He shows us through the triumphs and trials of life. May we always enjoy, endure, and embrace them.

We love you, and look forward to hearing from you and seeing your beautiful, smiling faces flood our mailbox. MERRY CHRISTMAS! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T20:35:00.002-05:00

yet another member of our household who knows how to make a nap look good on this rocking chair

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T11:21:00.010-05:00

Somehow I manage to pull it off every year!

I may be sweaty, disheveled, on edge, and in need of a drink after getting them pulled together, but once I take a look at them and review the pics, I always deem my efforts more than worth it!! :)

I present to you...

THE "WHATEVER"

THE GENIE

THE NINJA WARRIOR PRINCESS

SLEEPING BEAUTY PRINCESS GRACE

Our neighborhood is a happenin' place to be on Halloween and we had lots of fun with many friends. After a large gathering pre-trick or treating socializing, the daddies headed out with the kids, and I headed back to the house with a couple girlfriends for some wine and passing out of candy. A great evening was had by all!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-14T19:44:00.002-04:00

Popping a hole in the bubble...

2009-09-20T18:17:00.002-04:00

...alternately titled: The "F" Word.

Those that know our family know the tight bubble we are currently raising our young children in. I take pride in the bubble, because I believe it is the right place for my 4, 6, 8, and 10 year olds at this point in their lives.

My 5th grade 10 1/2 year old, is indeed though, beginning to show signs of curiosity in what exactly might be outside the designated bubble. As I begin to navigate the new waters of these pre-teen years, I am recognizing that it is okay to begin to pierce a small hole here and there in the bubble, under my guidance, of course.

So we come to movies...

We have always for the most part been very conservative with movies compared to families at large. Although within our chosen "bubble" we could be considered looser than others. My 10 yr old has never been allowed to see anything other than pre-approved PG movies.

However, last night her and I had the great opportunity to go on a date with our close friends...another mom and her 10 yr old daughter. E was not keen on seeing the newly released Cloudy With A Side of Meatballs, and upon perusing the movie offerings I happened upon Julie & Julia which happened to be rated PG-13.

I went to my go-to site for movie reviews from a christian perspective which you can peruse for yourself here . There I learned that the "13" rating was primarily for a selection of about 8 profanities which included 1 "F" word, 2 "S" words, and the remainder being the "A", "D", and "H" words.

A side note...in our family we are lean, mean, clean talking machines. Nary even a "geez" or "gosh" will be heard around here. My children DO know that bad words exist and why we don't use them, but in the younger ages, those "bad words" to them consist of "stupid", "shut up", and "gosh".

With E's advanced age, she is aware of what the "A", "D", and "H" words are, and thought she was "pretty sure" she had heard what the "S" word was, but in discussing whether we should see the movie and in showing her the review, she informed me that although she knew that there was a bad "F" word, she did not know what the word was.

Precious.

Isn't that so refreshing? That a 5th grade, 10 1/2 year old does not know what the "F" word is?

I love my bubble.

Anyway...

I talk to my friend and we decide we are going to go for it because the movie had a great review and we thought we could overlook the 7 or 8 instances of profanity, as we know our girls and know they know to never use that language and why.

So off we go.

It was indeed a great movie that I really recommend! (As a side note, I now am in love with Julia Child, am re-reminded what a uniquely gifted and talented actress Meryl Streep is, and that I WILL, nay, MUST make Julia's "Boof Bourgionione" at some point in my life...)

I have to tell you that the movie could have been total crap (also a word we try to discourage, however I find that it slips out of me way too much to have any hope that my children won't be desensitized to it in their future...) and E would have thought it was the greatest night of her life, simply because she was being allowed to see a PG-13 MOVIE (while sipping the most monstrous "small" $5 slushie drink which made me want to puke not only by looking at it, but also for paying for it!)

Anyways, about 2/3 through the movie she leans in to me and says, "mom, has the "f" word been said yet?" I said, "No, not that I have heard", and she says "Okay, I wasn't sure if I had missed it or not."

So now I was on my guard.

Sure enough, when the moment came, it was dramatic and unmissable. There it was. Out there. My 10 1/2 yr old had just heard the "F" word for the first time in her life.

As we left the theatre at the end of the movie, commenting on how good it was, how much we all enjoyed it, and how we all want to get Julia's cookbook and start cooking up a culinary storm, she leans into me and said "So that was the "F" word?"

I say, "Yes. And its really the most vulgar swear word. Its a terrible word and I hope you forget it."

Then she says "I don't know what I was expecting but it just wasn't what I was expecting."

I just started laughing at that. My precious, bubbled child who had no notion of what the "F" word might be, was unimpressed at the unveiling of the word. I just had to laugh. As we were walking out and talking to the girls about bad language and hearing their sweet thoughts on it and why they know not to use bad language, I mentioned E's comment about the unveiling moment of the "F" word.

My girlfriend and I got to chuckling when we tried to imagine what she thought the word might sound like (I am laughing out loud to myself right now). We started making up crazy F words that sounded more dramatic... "Flugalschnaderheimin!"..."Fraldindoedentanner!"..."Fortenmikelsnaden!"

We got to laughing so hard that I thought I might pee my pants, (which is a very hard thing for me to avoid on a good day).

It felt like a very grown up evening with our two growing up girls. It offered up good conversation and teachable moments, as well as great humor!

And although we popped a tiny whole in the well protected bubble for our girls last night, we still reveled in watching the girls, after bringing them to the "teenager" store of Aeropostle, buying them sweatshirts and watching them walk out wearing them, sweetly and innocently grab hold of each others hand and skip down the hallway of the mall.

:)

Backpeddling...

2009-09-06T10:23:00.026-04:00

I am home all alone right now!

This really never happens. I feel a little giddy with excitement about it!

We have had sickness in our house all week long, but today everyone felt good enough (minus the hacking coughs) to head to church and so I get to be here all by myself, since I did not feel like hacking up organs throughout the service.

I figure I better put my time to good use, so what better way than to finally, finally update some of our summer events on the blog before fall gets any farther underway.

Two events stand out most prominently....my 10 day getaway to Marco Island, FL with the girls, and Evie swimming in the county and state meets at Georgia Tech.

Florida...

We decided not to do our summer trek up to MN this year for a variety of reasons and so we really had a very relaxed, low-key summer for the most part. Then, about mid-July I started feeling restless to just get out of the rat race of suburbia (even though I wasn't even participating in it at the moment.) I just wanted to be where noone could find me and bother me (not that anyone specifically was bothering me...it was just a sensation I had!)

I asked CJ what he thought about just jumping in the car and heading to Marco Island (his parents have a condo there). He was in the middle of a big deal with work and couldn't get away, but encouraged me to just go with the girls.

I knew I could handle it, as I had made the 10 hr drive alone with the girls last Christmas when we went down there without CJ, and it went so smoothly. But I thought a guest might be fun, too, so I emailed my dear lifelong friend Jill, who is also my Evie Jill's name sake and fairy godmother, and randomly asked her if she could head to FL in about 2 weeks...after a couple email exchanges her ticket was booked and the plan was on!

I wanted to time it perfectly to reach Fort Myers, where she was landing, at just the right time, so we left at 6am in the morning. I am proud to say I am a master packer of a large family now, and with Marco being so casual and beachy (no makeup, no bra, no blowdryer, no dress up, etc) I packed all 5 of us in one rectangluar laundry hamper!

Yes, I am that good.

Anyway, it is noteworthy to point out how perfectly timed it was....we got to Fort Myers about nine hours later. Parked the car and walked in. As we were coming down the escalator into baggage, Jill was walking into baggage from her flight!! We couldn't believe it...we couldn't have timed it more perfectly! Jill and I always were a good team! :)

So she stayed with us for the first 6 days and we had a wonderful time relaxing on the beach and at the pool. Then the girls and I had an extra 4 days after she left before we decided to head home. Daddy missed us, and Sarah literally called him 20 times a day. It was so cute.

There was one incident with a gecko that snuck into the house one morning when Jill and Evie came back from their run. I am NOT a gecko person and we were all freaked and squealing like little girls standing on top of furniture. It took us an hour to problem solve getting the nasty thing captured, during which time I started to bond with our torture victim as we surely scared it out of its mind and ultimately, accidently injured him during his capture (we have left that little detail out with the little girls-we wiped up the blood smear and "released" him into a bush to go back to his family) The whole thing was ridiculous comedy and Jill and I laughed so hard at the obsurdity of the situation by the end that tears were rolling down our cheeks!

You had to be there to fully appreciate the humor. Just take my word for it.

I've never been an ocean swimming kind of girl. I much prefer basking in the glory of God's marvelous creation from the comfort of the sand and a beach chair. Plus, we are usually down there in the winter and the water is COLD!

But this was summer in Florida, and the ocean was like bath water! It was so awesome, we got in and floated and swam around. The girls loved it and so did I. I continually commented that I could not believe we had lived in GA for 12 years and had never once considered coming to Florida in the summertime because of the folklore that Florida is "too hot" in the summer. Well, let me tell you, it is a best kept secret that it is marvelous down there in the summer and I will be back every summer from now on!

Here are a few pics...

Swimming...

My girl Evie Jill...we continue to be so proud of her God-given swimming talents! She swam for our n'hood summer swim league this summer and then participated in the county swim meet at GA tech, where she placed 2nd in the county in the two events she swam (50 free and 100 IM). It was so exciting to be at the beautiful facilities at GA Tech where the '96 summer olympic games were held. In one of her neck and neck events, I became "one of those moms" screaming and cheering like a banshee from the stands!

Then with her year round swim league, she qualified in 3 events for the state meet later in the summer, also held at GA tech. That also was an amazing experience and she placed in the top 15 out of 60+ swimmers for each of her events that she swam. She was also selected to swim in two relay team events which was great.

We wanted to make the state meet special for her, and since it was an all weekend event, CJ and I took her to a hotel downtown overnight and also toured the World of Coke with her.

My mom and Aunt Genny had come into town and came down to the aquatics center for one of her events and then took the other 3 girls on an adventure of their own for the next day.

We are looking forward to this coming year of more great swimming and hopefully qualifying for the short course state meet which is being held in Savannah, GA at the end of Feb. I haven't been to Savannah since I was pregnant with Evie and really hope we will have an opportunity to take her there again! Swim, Evie, Swim! :)

Here are some pics from the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center...

vacant spaces

2009-09-01T16:37:00.002-04:00

Can you believe this?? This girl has lost 5 teeth, 3 on top and 2 on bottom (with another one on top still loose) in about the last month and a half! They get a little loose and she works and works them until they are out.

She is pulling them out too fast for the others to come in, so now there are just wide open spaces. At least one of the front teeth has come in so we know they will eventually emerge. I told her to STOP pulling them out now or she will not be able to eat!

Really Special Agents

2009-08-20T16:05:00.007-04:00

My friend, Jody, posted the following to me on facebook regarding my 1st grader, Sarah Rosy's playdate today with her son Connor. They have been friends since babyhood. It is so cute and so captures Sarah's personality and the free-spirited, unencumbered and imaginative minds of six year olds, I asked her if I could share it on my blog.

(Connor and Sarah, age 3)

(Connor and Sarah, age 5)

Really Special Agents (by Jody)

Today, I transported two secret agents in the backseat of my SUV. I am not sure if there was even a prior agreement deciding what they would play and how it might be cast….it just spontaneously began in the 10 minute drive home from noon carpool.

Immediately folders were turned into spy computers and backpacks became bulletproof vests. They were being delivered to the destination of their pet shop, a “front” for their spy headquarters. The conversation reached a heightened level of drama as they wondered what messages they would receive from emails regarding their “super dogs.”

At one point, special agent, Rosie, announced that she would care for all of the girl animals at the pet shop, “because, I speak girl,” she explained. Special agent, Connor, would care for all the boy animals…because, yes, you guessed it, “he speaks boy.” Well, so glad THAT was clear.

They generously allowed me to enter the game when they dubbed me “taxi driver.” Upon our return home, while making sandwiches, my role did evolve into “maid”…hmmm…funny how that worked.

Anyway, they prohibited me from entering the house until they could announce that “the coast was clear.” So I waited patiently in the garage, my arms laden with bags of things to put away and a folder of grown up items requiring my attention. As I stood there with these responsibilities in hand I could only be thankful that in the midst of my busy, adult life I had the chance to take part in the suspended world of two six year olds. Unfortunately for me, the coast was finally clear and off they ran… and back into my adult life, I went.

Thanks, Jody! :)

First Day of School!

2009-08-18T13:59:00.014-04:00

My girlies started school yesterday! It may seem early for you northerners, but down here, public started last week, so we actually got an extra week of summer compared to most down here.

I was sad to see summer go, and will post some catch up of our summer fun, but wanted to get the school pics up in real time, rather than in a couple months like my M.O. has been lately.

1st, 3rd, and 5th grades commenced yesterday, with Gracie Goo still home one more year with me.

Noteworthy was the sad fact that not one of my sweet school girls would hold my hand this year walking in to school!! Can you believe it?? I can't! I thought Sarah would be a sure thing, so I went for her hand first, but was informed that she was a FIRST GRADER MOM, duh, and did not need to be holding her mommy's hand.

Mady, who probably would have happily held my hand, took her cue from Sarah and declined my offer, and Evie, well, lets just say I would have been disowned as a cool mom if I had tried to lovingly grasp that 5th grader's hand.

Sigh.

THAT was enough to bring a little tear to my eye. Oh well, I still have my lovable baby Goo who is more than happy to not only hold my hand, but have me carry her around on my hip...at what point will that look awkward??

Everyone was thrilled with their first day and ready to head out again this morning. The Goo and I headed to Target to get her some school supplies, as I have realized over the summer that my precious almost 4 1/2 year old is a little behind on some basic skills. So we are going to do a loose pre-k homeschooling this year. She is totally on board and very excited about "doing school" at home.

Enjoy the pics of my growing up little ladies!

Big Time Behind

2009-08-17T16:07:00.002-04:00

No, I am not talking large buttocks here, I am talking about my blog!! I am sooo behind, I am paralyzed to begin!

Today was the first day of school and I haven't even caught up blogging about our excellent summer yet!

Wanted to give a shout out to my stalker, Roomie---Hey girl! :) Now get back to work! :)

So I may throw up a first day of school post, and then backtrack to some summer fun.

Now, speaking of behinds...I am being beckoned to go wipe one...when does this end???

God Bless America

2009-07-06T00:49:00.032-04:00

We had a very nice 4th of July.

CJ's niece and nephew from Arkansas were in town staying with his parents for the week, and his oldest brother came in for the weekend. We went to Stone Mountain with them on Weds. and had a great time trying out the new Sky Hike ropes course. I am proud to say that Evie and I kept up with the two teenagers and managed the 12ft, 24ft and 40ft courses! And Mady, who is deathly afraid of heights, managed the 12ft course and climbing and repelling a rock wall...very proud of her!

We hiked up the mountain, and then road the tram down. I feel like I conquered some major heights fears that day. Unfortunatley, I didn't bring my camera. All day I sized up the many shots I would have taken. Bummer. We will go back though, because Sarah wasn't allowed to do any of the ropes courses because of her cast, so we promised we'd go back.

We also spent a couple days at gma and gpa's awesome n'hood pool and also their backyard pool with the cousins. My little Goo has finally learned to swim without floaties! I am so proud of her and amazed that all four of my children are swimmers now!

Cousin Will is a handsome, cool, kind, 14 year old who was exceedingly tolerant of his built in fan club down here. Sarah, especially, was just smitten with him and stuck to him like glue.

Cousin Anna, super sweet at 13, and Evie had fun together. Evie stayed one night over at gma's with her, and the teens and 10 yo talked Gpa into taking them to the mall where Evie got introduced to teen stores like Aeropostle, where she scored 4 t-shirts, and to the shoe store where her and Anna got very cool, matching, navy converse sneakers.

We had gorgeous weather and awesome fireworks which we could see directly above us right from their front lawn. It was a good weekend!

All I want for Chrithmath...

2009-07-06T00:43:00.003-04:00

First one...

Then the other...

Happenings

2009-06-20T09:39:00.018-04:00

We're really having a great summer. Just a bunch of this and that. No official plans, no vacations to prepare for, no impending guests (although my mom and aunt are working on a trip down in July!), no summer camps, no scheduled activities. It's great!

So what have we been doing?

Well...

Daddy loves his pressure washer. He has noticably been interacting more with the girls lately (amazing how that happens with men when the kids stop being babies and daddies discover how much fun it can be to teach them stuff!) So he was out pressure washing the driveway the other day when he decided to call out the girls to get in on the action. They loved it...

Sarah also got a little work done on Dad's tires...

------------------------------------------

In these uncertain economic times, I have been doing my part by keeping Target in business. It is a sickness, really. I can't stay away. On our never-ending quest to find something exciting for the backyard since we ripped the trampoline out of the ground, tore it to shreds, and stomped on it for good measure (to find out why, visit here or here), I recently spotted a three-lane slip-n-slide at said store.

I really thought I was on to something here until Daddy had a nervous breakdown over the torn up grass. So now its been sitting in a pile on the deck the last few days while we let the grass dry out and negotiate the finer details of what is more important in life...beautiful grass or our kids enjoying their backyard...hmmmm.

----------------------------------------

The girls and I had a lovely time chatting while sitting around the table in our screened in porch yesterday. I started a story and then we'd go around the table adding to it. They seemed to enjoy it. Or rather, they seem to enjoy my undivided attention. :) While we were chatting, I noticed an unusual caterpillar climbing the screen. After crazy screams and gathering of bug nets, we got the little beast and decided to check on line for its species. We discovered we had found an American Dagger Moth Caterpillar

A little learning never hurt anyone in the summer, right? Since it turns into such an ugly moth, we decided to release it back into the wild rather than try to create a habitat where it would hopefully cocoon and turn into a butterfly. We have actually been successful at that once or twice, but more often than not, they cocoon and leave it at that, never realizing their full potential. Perhaps they are just afraid of emerging to so many screaming, squealing little girls.

--------------------------

I have discovered that the girls love sitting at the counter on barstools. We never have utilized this space for sitting before. I bought some nifty Batter Blaster pancake mix at Costco last week. It comes in an aerosol spray can (like redi-whip) and you just squirt it out onto the skillet. The girls love it and they sit at the counter as I make one after the other. The only problem is we only have 2 barstools, so the younger 3 fret, whine, and cry over who gets the two coveted stools. Obviously I am going to have to pick up one more (my big E is too old and above all this ridiculous behavior over a barstool! :)

----------------------------

Well, speaking of pancakes, Mady has taken her post on one of the barstools and is begging me to unglue my eyeballs from my computer and make her some. I am off!

Cast Off, Cast On

2009-06-12T15:34:00.014-04:00

After 6 1/2 long weeks in the full cast, Sarah finally got her short, and waterproof, cast today.

It wasn't pretty.

As soon as the cast was cut off she freaked out and was crying and saying it hurt so bad and felt wierd. She was begging for them to put the cast back on! They still needed to xray it, so to stabilize it, we put half the cast that had been cut off, back on her and walked her to xray which was another trauma, getting her arm in position. I was worried, but they assured me that this is a normal reaction for a little one after wearing a cast so long. The elbow is very stiff, and the skin and arm feel wierd, stiff, and vulnerable.

They showed me the new xray and were commenting on how "great" it looked, and all the new bone, and how it looks just like its supposed to, and I am thinking, well I guess I will have to believe your 7 years of medical school experience, because to me it still looks very broken and bulgy! They assured me that is normal and the new bone growth looks good and it heals from the outside in and because both bones were broken in half and new bone has to be created to connect the bones back together that it all looks good.

Okay. So then she picks her cast color - Green - and whimpers through the putting on of that, and then cries through the guy molding and squeezing the arm as the cast dries. Pfew!

We got the gortex material inside the cast so she can now bath and swim at her leisure, which is great, since she will be in this cast for 3 1/2 more weeks...10 weeks total in the cast! Would titanium rods have been better? I sure hope the bone fully heals and is strong enough when all is said and done!

We headed to Gma's to swim in her pool and she was being so cautious with her arm, afraid to move the elbow. I just let her go at her own pace, and soon she was swimming in the water and having a great time. I think we are now over this hump...I am sure there will be more trauma when they fully take the cast off in 3 weeks, although she is supposed to wear a removable splint after that. I will just be glad when all this drama is over!

I photographed the whole thing, so here it is, enjoy!

How many people does it take to build a picnic table?

2009-06-07T12:57:00.035-04:00

2 adults, 4 children, and a dog, if you are trying to make it a family project for Super Special Saturday!

CJ and I had spied a picnic table kit at a home improvement store (Lowe's, if you must know) last month but delayed gratification until payday. We picked it up with some stain yesterday and went to work!

We chose a "cheerful, happy" red stain, per Evie's request, and daddy went to work staining the boards.

He captivated his audience and soon everyone wanted in on the painting. It was a harrowing experience for daddy, but he managed to get through it, letting each girl take their turn at staining...

Then I decided to get in on the action to help the project along. (check out The Goo kicking back on her tricycle!)

We got 'er dun, and before she was even dry, started putting 'er together...we like instant satisfaction!

Meanwhile, Evie got distracted by the directions and got inspired to make a canvas drawing of a picnic table...

And, VOILA!! A family project well done!

Other cute pics during the project...

And after all that excitement and fun, daddy relaxed by vacuuming the garage.

Now go and build yourselves a family picnic table! :)

Summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime...

2009-06-04T15:36:00.010-04:00

Power Posting

2009-05-27T12:06:00.035-04:00

I have WEEKS worth of material to blog about. I am beginning to deal with this blog like I do my laundry...I let it go forever until so much is piled up that I do a massive laundry weekend, like I did over Memorial Wkend, and then I am so sick of it, I ignore it again!

That is probably what will happen with this power post covering all kinds of stuff over the last several weeks...then you won't see me again for days or weeks! Well, maybe I'll try to keep up better this summer.

Yesterday was the girls official first day of summer vacation. After they kindly let me take a 2 hour nap, since I have not been feeling my best, I took them all to Target where we sat in Starbucks and enjoyed overpriced drinks (thanks, Dad, I've already emptied that card!), and then I let them each pick out one of those giant bouncy balls. It is quite a challenge getting four giant bouncy balls from the opposite corner of the store to the checkout without taking out any shoppers or vandalizing the store and merchandise in the process! The girls were excited and played outside with them for the rest of the afternoon.

We have really been missing the activity that the trampoline gave the girls, but I have noticed them finding more and more to do out there. They spend more time on the swing set, they draw with chalk on the side walk, ride their scooters, watercolor, play badmitton...I am always proud of them for how self-sufficient and self-entertaining they are. Mady and Sarah will also play for hours together with their Littlest Pet Shop and American Girl stuff. Precious.

Anywho, lets back up for a bit...

The end of the school year was extremely hectic, as it always is, with many school committments and projects all culminating in the last couple weeks of school. I especially enjoyed being the lead parent teacher for the 2nd grade Little House on the Prairie day for Madeline's class. I went all out for it. Thankfully my parents were in town and my mom was a tremendous help in getting all the details and plans pulled together. Also, honorable mention is my dad who went on many errands with me the day before to gather all my supplies.

We dressed in Pioneer clothing, made butter by shaking heavy whipping cream in glass jars, wrote on slates, made toilet paper, brushed our teeth with little rags, "punished" the class by making them stand in the corner in a dunce cap and "swatting" their hands with rulers (this was seriously their favorite part of the day and they all tried to misbehave to stand in the corner!), we played marbles in the dirt and did hoops relays, we ate popcorn balls, bread and homemade butter, and apples for snack, we made hammered tin decorations, yarn and stick God's eyes, and embroidered our initials in fabric. It was a wonderful time! Here are some pics...

Also during these last couple weeks our beloved school was torturing us parents with big projects. In E's 4th grade science class they were finishing up their bug unit by having the children each make an insect of their choice out of whatever they wanted to, but it had to look authentic. Daddy really helped E come up with a great concept and it turned out great, check it out!...

Madeline also had a project to go along with a biography unit. She chose Harriet Tubman and was very serious about it...she read her 90 page book on Harriet twice to be sure she knew her well. Her teacher commented on how excellently Madeline presented her person and how much knowledge she had of her! She had to make a "quilt" for her biography project. Madeline is a gifted artist, and it really shows in her excellent project!...

My parents came into town over Mother's Day weekend. It was great to have them here together, my mom usually comes alone so it was nice to have dad along this time to see the girls and our life here. We had a nice time shopping, eating out, and hanging out. We had a nice dinner at our favorite steak restaurants with my parents and our dear friends, the Housers, on Mother's Day. We also enjoyed a firepit one evening...

Hmmm, what else has been going on...

Evie has been continuing to swim and at her last swim meet she qualified in another event for the state meet! She now has qualified for 50 meter freestyle, 50 meter butterfly, and 200 meter freestyle! She has one more meet to see if she can shave off just one second in the 100 meter backstroke and qualify for that event.

At the last meet a very disturbing thing happened with Grace. What do you think abou this...
Mady (8) and Grace (4) were sitting by our chairs with another friends daughter when I moved away to watch Evie swim an event, I was not gone even 5 minutes, maybe 3 min. When I returned I asked Mady where Grace was. She uncomfortably told me that a lady had taken her to the bathroom. I said, WHAT?? and Mady said, I told her not to, but she did anyway. (my anxiety level is rising as I type and have to relive this!)

A man sitting right near us pipes in and tells me that his wife had taken Grace to the bathroom. I was stunned and mumbled something like oh I am sure she didn't have to go, I just took her (which I had) and I turned and started running. You see, the bathroom was in a different building! where you had to leave the pool building, walk down a sidewalk along the parking lot, enter another building and walk across it to get to the bathroom.

I run in and say Grace? and thankfully she says from a stall "hi mommy!" a woman was standing outside the stall and tells me that she really had to go badly and she had told her sister (Mady) to take her but she said her mom wouldn't like that (you think?) and so this woman decided to take her!!! ???????? I was in such a state of shock I just mumbled thanks, I've got her now and she left and I went into the stall.

Grace had pooped and as I was wiping her I started to have a break down of anxiety. I explained to Grace that she can never, ever leave with a stranger and how dangerous it was and how scared I was and how wrong that woman was to have taken her and stranger danger, blah, blah, blah. I carried her back and was holding her in my lap trying to calm down when the guy walks by me and says, so did she really have to go?

I said yes and then told him that I was really upset that his wife took her because even if she had good intentions, she is a stranger and I was very uncomfortable that my 4 year old would leave the building with a stranger and walk along a parking lot into another building and I was feeling really upset about it. He just said he understood and then walked away. The woman NEVER said anything to me. It took me about 45 min to get over it.

Actually I am still not over it. WHAT COULD SHE HAVE BEEN THINKING???!!!! Okay, maybe in the moment she thought she was helping, but she should certainly haver realized how inappropriate it was and when her husband told her how upset I was she should have apologized to me! It upsets me so much, they clearly knew there were parents in charge of these kids, I walked away for less than 5 minutes!!! Why would someone do such a thing!

And Mady, poor girl, she was so freaked out, knowing the woman shouldn't take her, even told her that her mommy would not like it if she took her and she did it anyway! We teach our children to respect adults, so Mady did not know how to take this woman down! You can be sure we equipped our children with a lengthy discussion at dinner that night, and it was a HUGE wake up call to us how easy it is to take a child!!! Okay I have to calm down now...here's a cute pic of our little Goo at that swim meet and of E swimming...

Phew! I am FIRED up now, how about you??

On to more pleasant topics...

Also, while my parents were in town, CJ and I were able to get away overnight to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I am kicking myself that I didn't bring my camera, our hotel room was so great. I only have this one photo from CJ's camera phone...

That is a good shot though, to show that I actually did get to a state of relaxation! We left the afternoon after I had taught 2nd grade and it took me several hours to stop feeling tense. I realize that I live my life in a contstant state of tension. No wonder CJ doesn't think I am very fun to be around! :) It took me about four hours to relax after we left home, and realize that I had all night and all the next day until I had to return to the tension-producing atmosphere!

We stayed in downtown at the W hotel which had just opened in January. Very chic and modern, super cool room decor in deep purples, metals, and glass. Bed was so soft and fluffy. They had a great lounge area where I had the most perfectly and freshly made Mojito that I will never be able to order another one again because it will never be as good as this one was.

We ate steak and seafood at the hotel restaurant, watched movies in our room and just relaxed. The next day we went to the aquarium all by ourselves! What a difference it is without little people to contain! We must have spent at least 45 min in the Titanic exhibit alone, which would have bored the kids to tears. The best part was sitting in front of a huge glass window and watching the huge whales and manitee and grouper swimming and being fed right in front of our noses, what a treat!

Alas, we had to return home, and yes, I am tense again. But I was reminded (and so was my husband) that I do, in fact, have a personality! It is just currently buried beneath the demands of mommyhood and life. But they are precious and worth it and someday they will be gone living their own lives and my home will be quiet and clean and I will miss them terribly. So I pray every day that I will enjoy this joy-filled life God has given me.

Well, I think that is about it for now. I told you it was going to be a power post!

My boy's birthday...

2009-05-22T18:25:00.006-04:00

...we've got one boy in this family, and today was his day!

This is my 37 year old boy.

We had a great day...he finished up work early, right as the girls were finishing up their last day of school around noon and we met for lunch at the Forum. We decided to try the new Mexican restaurant that had opened and were VERY pleasantly surprised at how authentic and very family friendly it was, with very kind staff and good, reasonably priced food. We will definitely be back!

The highlight was when they put a sombrero on him and sang something in spanish. I am kicking myself for not having the camera on me to capture his face. Just picture the "you have got to be kidding me" CJ face and there you have it, but picture it with a sombrero on his head...Ole'! :)

(note Sarah's cast in the above pic...we had an appt. right before this pic where they xrayed her again-for the 3rd time since the break. The bone is starting to fill in where the breaks are now...she's had it on for 3 1/2 weeks and has 3 weeks more to go with the long cast before she gets the short cast for 2 more weeks, which we will be able to get in a waterproof model, yea!...anyway, the cast and gauze had come apart around her thumb and so they had to add more casting material to it, so she chose yellow...they would have redone the whole cast, but recommended just adding to it since the arm was still broken and they felt that it would be too traumatic and painful for her to have it cut off and recasted when it would likely still hurt...I agreed!)

The girls lavished Daddy with balloons, cards and gifts when we got home. We must have done well this year, because we actually got some smiles out of the man! check it out...

I found the most perfect t-shirt for him! He must have loved it because he put it right on and wore it to the movies! We took all the girls out to see Night At The Museum 2 after the presents.

This evening we are just hanging out...wanted to do a fire pit, but it rained all afternoon. He is doing his neighborly duty going back and forth to the n'hood pool where they are grilling and celebrating school's out, despite the dreary weather.

Its been a good day, Happy Birthday to my one and only boy.

Black Thumb

2009-05-13T16:41:00.004-04:00

I am not a gardener.

I have photographic proof.

Here are the weeds my children pulled out of the ground in the backyard over the weekend...

I should probably be embarrassed...but I'm not. :)

Need a Break? We've got another one for you...

2009-04-29T17:57:00.003-04:00

Think you're having de ja vu? No, you are just thinking about this post

Yesterday at 4pm Sarah was on our trampoline with Evie (yes the same trampoline that caused Grace's broken arm in February) and in the midst of a flip things went awry and she landed with a gruesomely bent arm.

We rushed her to Children's Hospital and were there by 4:30. Things were going smoothly for us and by 6pm she had her iv, xrays done, and morphine on board. Both bones in her right forearm were broken and at a 40 degree angle (but thankfully did not penetrate the skin) so she had to go under sedation for the bones to be set and casted. We were told we had about an hour wait until it would be our turn with the ortho surgeon and anesthesiologist.

That hour came and went and another and another. Aparantly, this became the worst Tuesday they had seen in a long time with severe trama patients and a constant flow of broken bones coming in that needed emergency surgery right as we were the next ones in line and long story short, it was midnight before they were able to get the orthopaedist surgeon back down from the OR for Sarah.

We had them give her another dose of morphine around 9pm and she had been able to sleep from 9-12. We got out of there a little before 2am, she was not feeling well from the sedation and threw up in the car. It was a long night.

After getting the older girls off to school this morning, I climbed back in bed with her and we slept in until nearly 11am.

She has been quite uncomfortable today and not her normal Sarah self. Her fingers are swelling and she has pain in her arm when she moves the fingers so we are keeping a close eye on that and her pain is being managed with round the clock Loritab for these first couple days.

The trampoline is now gone.

Four Year Old for Rent...5 yr minimum committment required

2009-04-24T13:38:00.003-04:00

Good Grief, have I just blocked out age four from my memory? After all, this is the 4th 4 year old girl I have had.

She is just so, soooo, soooooo....FOUR!

She stomps around the house when she doesn't like how something has gone down.

She makes the "HMMPH!" noise with her chin in the air before she stomps off.

Her latest tactic is name calling and mean comments. Her favorite thing to tell me forever has been "you're the best mom ever". Now she wields it like a weapon when things don't go according to her plan. Now I get "I'm not going to tell you you're the best mom EVER AGAIN!") or "You're not the best mom now!" or "You're mean to me!"

Somehow, calling Sarah a "loser" has invaded her repetoire. Now, when she threw out "Butthead" the other day, I could trace that directly back to her daddy. (And frankly, I believe it is my just reward for having nicknamed my brother Butthole in our youth...sorry Mike!) But Loser? I have a funny feeling that I can probably trace that back to a Hannah Montana or SpongeBob episode. Lately I have really been pushing Dora, Super Why, and Curious George again. Such sweet shows...no name calling, no Losers.

She hasn't allowed me to have any opinion on her clothes or hair since infancy. (Frankly, that has been something I have encouraged, as it was one less body to dress and prepare in the morning, but lately I have noticed the "looks" as we are out and about, that range from the mom-of-many who gets it and thinks its cute, to the perfectmom whose child is clean, coordinated and coiffed with matching bow who doesn't.) Today she told me she was going to braid her hair, which amounts to gruesomely twisting just one side of her hair and securing it with a little barrette. I offer to do the other side and give her a beautiful braid which I secure with, horror of horrors!, an elastic band. She acknowledges that it is a great braid and asks me how I learned to braid so well, then suddenly, without warning, she freaks out that I used an elastic band instead of a barrette and flings herself on the floor and starts rolling around! She then rips the braid out of her hair and says something like I'm not the best mom or something.

What??!! This is becoming a pattern! Get a grip, she is not a baby anymore and needs to be contained!!!

So I calmly tell her that she may not speak to me that way. What she said was mean and we don't allow our girls to speak meanly in our family and she will need to say she is sorry. She mumbles an insincere "sorry". Then I tell her that if she says something mean again she will have to spend some time in her room. She leaps up and says "I'm going to spend time in my room now!" and stomps off.

Fine. I felt like sticking my tongue out and pbbllleeeetttt-ing at her. I refrained.

As I ponder these happenings, it leads me directly back to the realization I have had for several years now about myself. I am not a young kid mom. I just can't get into their psyche's. I don't get them. I am a baby mom. I totally get 0-3 year old babies. I'm like a baby whisperer. I am completely comfortable, confident and happy as a clam with a newborn, infant, toddler, even early pre-schooler. Starting, aparantly, around age 4 to, oh, I'd say 9 years old, I just don't get it. I don't get them. They frustrate me and they just don't see the big picture at all so there is little real reasoning that can be done. (and doing the math, I currently have 3 children in this stage that I don't understand!)

The glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, is I have entered a new "pre-teen" stage with my oldest now. People forever have told me "just wait until they are all teenagers..." But, hey, you know what? I say, bring it on! Because I am discovering with my new pre-teen 10 year old, that I am suddenly starting to "get her" again. I can relate to the emotions of 4th grade and beyond, because I remember those years myself. The bigger picture starts to set into their little sponge minds and they can reason and understand more. They can articulate their feelings more. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying pre-teen is shaping up to be a piece of cake, there are emotions and attitudes to navigate DAILY. I am just saying that I GET it better than I get "kid", and that makes me handle it better and more effectively.

I have felt like a train wreck mom for years now as I was thrust out of my baby comfort zone and have been wading insecurely through these "kid" years that don't make any sense to me. Poor things. I do realize this is all about ME, and not about THEM...they are wonderful, fabulous, completely normal and age appropriate little kids, who just happen to have a mom that can rock the baby years, and is showing potential to rock the pre-teen years, but just doesn't quite get "kid".

So there are my raw parenting thoughts for today. I am really exposing myself here, but I really believe that there cannot possibly be a mom on the planet that feels that every stage her children are in are her "rock star mom" phase. So if anyone is feeling insecure about their child's stage right now, maybe you will know you are not alone! :)

Parent on, dudes!

Bragg-worthy Notations...

2009-04-23T17:08:00.002-04:00

My big girl, E, was moved up another level in swimming for the 2nd time this year!!!

She is now entering into the big leagues of year-round swim team, with two hour practices 4+ times a week with 1/2 hour "dry lands" exercising before they hit the pool, instead of one hour swim practices 2-3 times a week. I am crazy proud of her and continue to marvel at her natural ability in the water, and not-of-my-gene-pool tireless nature and athletic drive.

Also noteworthy in E's life...she was selected at school as the only girl out of the whole 4th grade class to recite an Emily Dickinson poem at the schoolwide Oratorical Recital at the end of the year. She was thrilled as she had thoroughly practiced her delivery of her poem for her class poetry recital last month in the hopes of being considered for this honor. I had no prior knowledge of this dream...I found this out when, after the poetry recital I told her how wonderful she had sounded, and she told me how hard she had worked on her tone, expression, speed and overall delivery! WOW! I would quaver pathetically every time I had to do any kind of public speaking growing up, and here my girl is seeking out opportunities to be on stage!

I don't want to leave out Mads, who, in 2nd grade, is obsessed with learning her times tables and practices the entire times table every day and has me listen..."Mom, I'm going to do 7's now...7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63, 70. Okay, now 8's..." She will definitely be ahead of the game for 3rd grade!

Sarah is happy as always, with an occasional tantrum thrown in when a sock is too tight, or her oatmeal isn't thick enough.

Grace is calling her sisters "Butthead" and "Loser-bo-booser"....

Defining "I Love You"

2009-04-21T09:49:00.000-04:00

Sarah pulls out a note from her school folder...

Sarah: "Mom, look what Luke made me." (shows me a card with a flower drawn on it written with I Love You.

Mom: "Oh that's nice!"

Sarah: "MOM! He said 'I Love You!'

Mom: "Well, that is sweet, you can love someone as a friend."

Sarah: "But what if he means Love, like he wants to DATE me!?"

Mom: "Well, seeing as you're both 6 and can't date, I think you're pretty safe there."

Tantalizing Travel Tidbits...

2009-04-19T14:40:00.004-04:00

In my fantasy land, as if my life is so fabulously interesting, I know you have been waiting impatiently for all the glorious details of our recent spring break travels...hahaha...truth is, i just want to get them down to preserve the memories, and I like to pretend that my single digit followers just can hardly wait to read any of my witty details chronicling our personal lives! :)

---------------------------------------

It all started on a pleasant Friday morning as CJ and I went in and out, in and out, in and out of the house packing up the car. I am maintaining a calm, positive, and eager to depart mood, E and M were at school until noon, and G & S were trying to pack every belonging and the kitchen sink when I wasn't looking. G was toting around her beloved sidekick "bunny" despite my repeatedly ignored requests to "put bunny in the car or when it is time to leave we won't be able to find her!" Premonition at it's finest.

E & M get home from school, change, eat, and we all load in the car looking good for a 12:30 departure. "Mommy I need bunny!" Where IS bunny?? I feel the blood begin to boil in my brain. I jump out of car and do a quick run through of the house. No bunny. Steam threatens to escape from my ears and in a notsopleasant tone, I order everyone out of the car to scour the house for bunny. TO NO AVAIL!

I completely lose it and turn into Monster Mommy, doing a hideous display of "I told you so!"'s to Grace and involving everyone in my mental breakdown. That STUPID BUNNY!!! That thing ALWAYS goes completely missing at the worst times! I cannot tell you how many times we have torn the house apart looking for that thing!

After wasting over a half hour looking for it, I am in angry disbelief that the bunny I had watched her walk around with all morning long was NOWHERE to be found.

Fine. Get in the car, too bad for you! NO BUNNY!

Off we go, everyone angry, upset, moody, crabby, and totally disgruntled. Florida, here we come! Just like I had imagined.... :)

About an hour down the road, our neighbor across the street, who is taking care of our guinea pigs and cat, calls. "Hey, I think Grace left her bunny over here when CJ brought the pigs over. I just found it."...

...I was not aware she had gone over there when the pigs were brought, BUT APARANTLY CJ HAD BEEN AWARE!! Why oh why oh why had he not thought to look over there when we were hysterically looking through the house!!!! PERFECT ME would have KNOWN to look over there immediately! So now I had someone else to blame and be angry at besides Grace! (are you catching on that I am an ugly, sinful mess on most days??!!)

Neighbor offers to get it in the mail that afternoon, so it would be to the condo by the next day. Great! We would have bunny tomorrow! Deep breath. Moving on….

-----------------------------------

Saturday comes and goes. No bunny in the mail. Oh well, it got delayed, it will be here Monday.

-----------------------------------

Sun. Pool. Beach. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Sun. Pool. Beach. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

-----------------------------------

Monday morning 5:55am CJ gets a call from his friend. He has received a call from our security system that our alarm went off and they couldn’t get a hold of us.

CJ calls the security company, is told police came and did not see any signs of entry, the alarm company had reset the alarm and there had been no inside motion detected since they reset the alarm.

Later in the morning one of our neighbors came by to check the inside of the house.
(I am mortified, because I did not leave the house in good shape AT ALL, and then made it even worse by tearing it apart even more looking for bunny before we left.)
While he is checking out the basement on the phone with us, he says he hears an animal noise. Wait a minute, he hears a MEOW noise!

Hold the phone!

Slow dawning creeps over me!

OUR 100% OUTDOOR CAT MUST HAVE SNUCK IN THE HOUSE WHILE WE WERE IN AND OUT PACKING UP THE CAR AND GOT LOCKED INSIDE THE HOUSE WHEN WE LEFT!!!

There is no food, water, or litter box in the house for the cat and it has been locked inside for 3 days now!

I call our neighbor across the street who is feeding and watering the cat inside our garage and ask her if she has seen the cat or noticed any signs that it is eating. She sadly informs me that she has been so worried as there has been no sign of the cat and she’s afraid he may have run away like our other cat did a few weeks ago.

I inform her of the dreadful news that the cat got locked in the house 3 days ago and is probably half dead from starvation and thirst by now and it will be interesting to see what he has decided to use as a litter box in our home.

So she heads over to my messy, embarrassing house to look through every nook and cranny and closet and under beds to try and find the cat, to no avail. We get a call from the other n’bor who had been through. His wife and boys are worried about the cat and want to walk through the house. My inlaws call and ask if they should go look through the house to try and find the cat. No, NO, NOOOOOO!!!!!! Oh my goodness, strike me dead right now…There is dirty underware on the floor in the closets for crying out loud!! Crumbs on the floors that have probably helped the cat sustain life! Dust balls that probably roll around the floor playing with each other! Unmade beds! A ring around the tub! Have mercy on me and my messy ways, dear LORD!!!! WHY must I be found out! Talk about eating a HUGE slice of Humble Pie. I am who I am. You don’t have to like me. Yes, I am a sloppy housekeeper. Now you know, world.

Anyway, no one could find the cat, so they brought into the house the food, water, and litter box and as the days went by, there were signs that he was eating and using the litter box, he just refused to show himself when anyone came in.

---------------------------

Meanwhile, back in Florida…….I looked for the bunny in the mail again Monday afternoon. Nope. Another slow dawning crept over me. Do my inlaws have all the mail forwarded back to them in Georgia? Well, yes indeedio they do! So bunny arrived in Florida that Saturday, hung out at the post office for a day, and was sent back up to Georgia on Monday!

---------------------------

It was time to just have a good laugh……HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

--------------------------------

Where were we….ah yes. Sun. Pool. Beach. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

-------------------------

One evening we went out for ice cream and walked along the docks where the big, fabulous yachts park. Evie had asked me to hold her glasses so she could have her sunglasses on. I decided they were not my responsibility after it got dark enough to where she didn’t need her sunglasses and I handed them back to her and told her to NOT LOSE THEM and put them on. Why do I tempt fate like this??? Did I not learn anything with the bunny???

Sure enough next morning. “Mom, where are my glasses?” I don’t know, where did you put them? I don’t know. Canvas the condo. Nada. Let’s retrace our steps….doing that led us to the last memory of the glasses which was me giving them back to her and telling her not to lose them and to put them on. GRRRRR! CJ takes her back to where we had been the night before and they look all over. Nope.

We wait a day and she is having headaches from not having her glasses. She has been complaining for months now that her sight is blurry and needs new glasses anyways, so fine. I look up a Vision Works in Naples and off Evie and I head for an afternoon adventure of an eye exam and new glasses selection. Good grief…$300 later, we have spent a large chunk of our vacation spending money on replacing her lost glasses. I used the little-known parenting tactic called THREATEN to impress upon her the importance of not losing these new glasses for at least a year or more, if ever!

---------------------------

Other sweet memories from the trip…

* 2 mile runs with my big girl E every morning, who is such an athletic go-getter, that I could barely keep up with HER!

* doing a mile walk with Sarah after my runs

* watching my girls play so sweetly with each other in every combination Evie/Grace, Sarah/Mady, Evie/Mady, Sarah/Grace, Mady/Grace, Evie/Sarah….with so little to actually play with down there, they created their own fun and games and had such a good time together, often in pairs. It was heartwarming and made my mind wander again to that fantasy I have of a simple life on a country farm….

* soaking up the Holy Spirit as I gazed upon God’s beautiful creation, knowing completely that only a God who loves us so much would bother to create such a breathtaking world for us to enjoy.

* Learning a little bit more about myself and God, as I read Max Lucado’s In the Grip of Grace while laying poolside.

* Enjoying a kitchen and meal preparation free week as my husband took care of every kitchen and food duty the entire time we were there, and I just concentrated on laundry.

*Never wearing makeup, a bra, or using a hairdryer the entire week.

*the sunsets…breathtaking

*finding a 5 point starfish just laying there amongst the washed up shells one day on the beach…what a find!

*meeting up for a drink with a Georgia friend that was down there the first part of our trip

*meeting up for coffee with a Minnesota friend who arrived in Naples with her family at the end of our trip…so special!

____________________

We left on Easter Sunday morning. Before heading out we attending an Easter Sunrise Service on the beach…a 22 year tradition down on Marco Island. It really touched me, especially as we parked and started walking barefoot down the beach through the sand towards the service spot, along with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of others. There were even big boats that were anchored out in the ocean because they could hear the service with the great speaker setup they had. We laid down our towels and our beach chairs and enjoyed the service, celebrating our Risen Lord and Savior. But I was most moved to tears by all the many, many people there for Jesus!

------------------------------------

On the road again….Lessons in contentment and having a grateful heart:

Off we go on our 10 hour drive home. We were driving CJ’s parents SUV on this trip instead of ours (don’t ask), and I had discovered on my outing to Naples with Evie earlier in the week that the air conditioner was clearly not working in the vehicle. Well, it was 90 degrees for a good 6 hours of the trip on the way home and it is very difficult to have the windows open in a car going 80 miles an hour down a highway. We’d blast the vent air for awhile, then open the windows for a couple minutes and then close them and blast the vent air….

Here is the journey of my mind….

“I am going to FREAK OUT!!! This is RIDICULOUS!!! WHY couldn’t we have driven our own truck???!!!” I AM SO HOT! I am going to FREAK OUT! I AM FREAKING OUT! I AM SO HOT I AM GOING TO DIE! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!!! I AM MISERABLE!!”

Then, God had to get involved, knock-knock-knocking on my heart….“dear Shel, you are riding in a luxury vehicle, you have just left a lovely vacation where you stayed in a free condo in one of the warmest places in the whole country, you do not deserve any of this, yet you are one of a tiny, tiny minority that is fortunate enough to enjoy such things, why do you think you deserve air conditioning on this trip? Contentment, my child….I would like you to practice contentment and a grateful heart for the next 10 hours in this hot vehicle.”

Fine, then.

So I did. Every time I thought I just could not take it any more and wanted to curse in my mind anything and everyone that had a hand in putting me in this hot torture chamber situation I thanked and praised God for the comfortable luxury of the vehicle, the fabulous condo, the superb weather and scenery, and the special family time we just had. I kept repeating that I was content and thankful and refused to allow my mind to go to a dark, complaining place. And it REALLY helped. God is always willing to meet us when we seek after Him.

------------------------------------------

In order to distract me from the heat, CJ offered to get my computer set up for me with a special thingy that gave me internet access on the road. I got on facebook and proceeded to type my friend a long and lengthy novel about our week and things God was teaching me and just a million and one musings which took me 20-30 min to write. Literally 2 seconds before I hit the send button we drive through a dead zone and my internet access and computer shut down. Facebook does not have an automatic save feature, so when I got logged back on, my entire cathartic masterpiece novel to my friend was gone! FREAK OUT! (do you see how itchy my trigger finger always is on wanting to freak out! It is a personality disorder in me that I daily have to give over to God and try to restrain!) I grumbled and complained and threatened to throw the computer out the window until I had CJ good and sick of me.

And then God’s voice was back in my head telling me to get over myself again. It went something like this…”well aren’t you just so special that you deserve a laptop computer with internet access (that doesn’t meltdown and lose your writing that you are taking too much pride in) on your lap as you drive down the highway in a luxury vehicle (albeit with no a/c, but I digress) returning from a vacation in paradise. I want you to practice contentment and a grateful heart on this 10 hour drive in a hot, a/c-less, vehicle with faulty internet access and a dying computer battery.”

Fine, then.

So I did. I got over myself, put my computer away and made my thoughts be of the grateful and content variety. God is always willing to meet us when we seek after Him.

__________________________________

Whew! So we made it home about 9:30pm that night. We were REALLY looking forward to discovering where the cat had made his litterbox the first 3 days he was alone in the house unbeknownst to us. The house smelled ever so fresh when we entered! The girls took off to find him and he came to us right away. He seemed SO RELIEVED to see his family, but was clearly traumatized by the experience, and 2 weeks later is still not the same cat that he was before we left…he is much more needy and we have to let him in the house a lot more now and give him extra cuddles and love. First his brother runs away, and then 3 weeks later his family disappears and he gets trapped in the house with no food, water, or litterbox for 3 days. I am pretty sure we will be getting him a new companion soon. We just can’t help ourselves!

Anyway, I am sure you are dying to hear where he litter boxed….Well, poor Evie, her bed was his pee-pee spot. There was pee all over her bed! And his poo-poo spot was in the cushion crack of our leather sofa in the family room.

He also pee-pee’d all over a foam topper we put on our guest bed that was in a heap in the guest room…we threw that away.

It took me all week to get Evie’s bed cleaned up and remade. I desperately hope that the cat does not think that is his indoor spot to pee now when he comes in the house!

------------------------------------------------------

So, all in all, we had a great adventure and memorable Spring Break 2009! I am thankful, and I am content!

-------------------------------------------------------

So, was it a satisfying retrospective of our trip to read? That is if you even made it through the whole thing. My sister told me her husband stopped reading my blog because I was too wordy. Oh well. Here I am world! You don’t have to like me!

Be thankful and content today in all circumstances, dear ones!

:)

Fabulous Florida Fotos!

2009-04-15T16:59:00.029-04:00

I have so much to chit-chat about regarding the trip, that I thought I'd just dump the photos into this post and then write another post with all my thought tidbits from our Spring Break trip.

So to get me motivated to write my post, here are some favorite shots from last week...

I really am...

2009-04-14T17:09:00.002-04:00

...planning on posting all the adventures and some pics of our trip...really. I am.

T minus 20 hours and counting...

2009-04-02T16:32:00.002-04:00

...and this is where I will be headed!

I am busy today preparing to leave, which involves laundry, supervising the clean up of the animals so we don't have to send them to their guest homes in the disgusting state we allow them to live in our house, and aimless wandering around as I plot and plan in my brain how to pack as little clothing as possible for us, whittle down the car bags that the children are packing for themselves, and figure out what to pack, foodwise, in the coolers.

I AM SO EXCITED TO LEAVE!!!!

We are very fortunate to have a great condo to go to, owned by my husband's parents, in Marco Island. The inlaws have just returned from their winter down there, so we will have the place to ourselves, and I am very much looking forward to being together as a family without the stresses of the daily grind here at home.

We are very relaxed vacationers, not adventurous at all, so the week will consist of relaxing at the condo pool, relaxing at the beach, and relaxing on the lounger on the screened in porch. The girls are always quite content with this schedule and keep themselves entertained quite nicely with no specific plan or adventure to busy them.

I don't know if I will have internet access down there, or whether I will even bring my computer with me...we'll see!

Spring Break, here we come!

Random Thoughts stream...

2009-03-27T09:03:00.004-04:00

It is a dark, rainy day...I like it. It feels peaceful in the house and I have nowhere I need to go.

-------------------------------

I am caffeine free, so when I am out of decaf, like I am this morning, and drink caffeinated, I get a headache. I have one now.

------------------------------

I am totally in love with my children in a nostalgic way lately. I look at the two little girls and want to cement in my conscious how precious and carefree and lacking self awareness they are as they dress up, twirl around, sing and dance through life right now.

I also am embracing and enjoying the emerging relationship with my pre-teen girl and have hopes that although I went from highly confident baby mama, to a lacking confidence grade school mama, that I will be coming out the other side into pre-teen mama with restored confidence in my ability to parent this new age group in our home. For my big girl, it seems that it is all about the time I give her, communication, empathy, boundaries and tangible acts of unconditional love, listening and understanding.

-----------------------------------

Have a heavy heart for others pain today, as a young mom of four young boys at our church lost her husband yesterday to a very rapid, one in a million, illness related to mad cow disease...they got the diagnosis 2 weeks ago and he was gone yesterday on his oldest son's 10th birthday www.caringbridge.org/visit/scotthamilton1
He was a man who loved the Lord and although my heart is heavy and deeply grieved for his wife and kids left behind, there is joy in knowing he is partying with our Savior in Heaven right now.

Also praying for MckMama (my charming kids link on right) whose son almost died in-utero last summer with a heart condition but was fully healed by birth, but now after several healthy months of life is in the NICU with serious heart problems again.

-----------------------------------

Wondering why I can't get my act together in my home. I am just not a good housekeeper and homemaker. I CAN do it, I know how to do it, I have done it consistently before...but I have had a long string of months and months now that I just can't get my act together with home upkeep. It affects the whole climate and dynamic of our home and family.

------------------------------------

Thinking pretty seriously about homeschooling. The kids are all re-enrolled in their private school for next year, but I will be spending time through next school year pondering the pros and cons of homeschooling perhaps 2 of my children. Grace for kindergarten would be a no-brainer, but not sure which of the other 3 it would be most beneficial...or detrimental...to have at home. I don't want it to be JUST about saving tuition money. I want to be sure I have a passion for it, and see that my children would benefit from it beyond the tuition money being saved. Will be praying about this a lot in the coming year.

-----------------------------------

Am super proud of my 10 yr old who has found a passion and God-given talent for swimming, and athletics in general. I would have never pegged her, as a little girl, as the one who would emerge as our athlete, but that is exactly what she is emerging to be. She has a healthy competitive nature, a drive to succeed in sports, and the physicality and mental strength to be excellent in her athletic pursuits. My family was not athletic, so it is interesting, fun, and inspiring to watch this athleticism emerge in her. I don't know how to be an athlete mom, so for now I just sit quietly on the sidelines in awe and wonder at her abilities.

----------------------------------

The little girls are obsessed with baths...and joyfully, they are fully self-sufficient in this area...I will just hear the bath start to run...as I am hearing it now...I don't know how well they do scrubbing themselves down, but I figure if they are marinating in bath water a couple times a day and get a little soap action going while they play, they must be getting somewhat clean each time, right? My heart was so warmed yesterday as I heard 6 yr old Sarah preparing herself a bath and singing to herself "God is so good, He's so good to me."

------------------------------------

I get overwhelmed at time by the "affluent suburban lifestyle". I look at our big house and all our "stuff" and can feel disgusted sometimes at the unnecessary gluttony of it all, especially when I feel like we financially struggle to keep it all going. I think I would have been a good Caroline Ingalls, or 50's housewife. I am feeling a total purge and declutter mode coming over me. Simple, I want simplicity. Sometimes I want to move to the country, homeschool all my children, bake my own bread, and gather eggs from our chicken coop every morning...but I'd like to wear Ann Taylor Loft and have professionally colored hair while tending to the farm animals. :)

--------------------------------------

A dear friend sent me a homemade gratitude journal. I am looking at it right now. I have so much to be thankful for, I could easily fill every page. But do I take the time to really sit and feel grateful? Tell the Lord how thankful I am for the life He has given me? No, I tend to let the weight of my petty complaints overwhelm me and forget to live in a state of gratitude and joy. This isn't rocket science...it's a choice. Does anyone else struggle with choosing joy and gratitude over grumbling, complaining and holding onto pettyness?

-----------------------------------------

This could have been called Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy if it were more humorous and less heavy....I guess the darkness and rain has left me quite contemplative today. I am going to go forward now and do something productive in my home! Happy day to you all!

I have a baby who is four...that's still a baby, right? RIGHT??!!!!

2009-03-18T13:59:00.034-04:00

Grace's 4th birthday was ushered in with a week of celebrating.

It started off with a visit from "favorite godmudder" who, in typical fashion, over-indulged her darling Goo with 27,613 perfectly orange wrapped and ribboned gifts. We had to dab the sweat from Goo's brow in between the marathon gift opening session! Grace is now the proud owner of a completely orange wardrobe! FG (fairy godmother) and I enjoyed an outing to American Girl with our birthday girl, where her doll Ruthie enjoyed a hairdo and ear piercing, and also an impromptu hairdo for Goo and FG at a mall kiosk...

A couple days later, right before her Orange birthday party, Grace got her full cast off and replaced with a shorter ORANGE one...she was thrilled!

Then Grandma Wolfe, Aunty Nonny, and cousin Isabelle arrived from MN for the Orange party...

There was a fun craft...

A pinata...

And an all around good time had by this adorable threesome of orange party-goers...

The girls enjoyed their goodie bag items...

Happy birthday to you!...

Ah baby girl...my fourth and final. You are my little brown beauty and still my snuggly little gooball. I love you my beautiful birthday girl...

Cousins

2009-03-13T19:44:00.023-04:00

Grace and Isabelle. Born 9 days and 1,000 miles apart. My sister's daughter and my daughter...so special to see them together.

They just arrived yesterday and it is just precious to watch and listen to them play together and enjoy one another. It has been reminding me of the good times we have had since the beginning and inspired me to pull out a history of pics of them together on visits since they were born...the first pic is the very first time they met each other, and the last pic was just today...

What's in a Nickname?

2009-03-11T13:13:00.002-04:00

I am a nickname mom. It is rare that I call my children their given names to their faces. I love pet names, plays on their name, lovey names, etc. This may stem from the fact that my parents never called me by my name to my face unless they were mad at me. Truly, the only time my dad ever called me "Michele" is when he was displeased with me, and I hated the way it sounded, even though I like my name.

My husband also never calls me by Michele, and if he does, it sounds so wierd and I hate it. You may wonder what they call me instead...my nickname is Shel. However, I would say that most of my adult friends call me by Michele and it doesn't bother me at all. But I do find that those closest to me always naturally transition to Shel. I have one friend that came up with the nickname "Shellatte" for me because of my love of Starbucks Lattes...I love that nickname!

My parents had nicknames for all three of us siblings growing up. Mine was "Bee Bop Baby and I Don't Mean Maybe". Yup, that's right. Where did this come from, you ask? I believe that it started from them calling me Shelby, shortened to Bee, then Bee Bop, then Bee Bop Baby and I Don't Mean Maybe. My dad still calls me Shelby or Bee and I like it. Perhaps Mom or Dad could clarify in comments about how this crazy nickname came to be.

My parents called my sister Melainey Dingle-Fritzer. Now I have to know the history behind that one...mom? dad?

My brother was called Shotter Bo, or Shot Bo or Shot...again, how did you come up with that?

From the time I was two I called my sister Nonny because I couldn't pronounce her name...it is rare to never transition out of a toddler nickname, but I never did and have called her Non my whole life, even my children call her Aunty Nonny. My brother called her Non until he became an adult and thought he was "too cool for school" and transitioned himself to Mel...I still think it's wierd to hear him call her Mel instead of Non.

When E was a baby we tried out the common "Peanut" with her. It just didn't stick. I went through a long phase where I referred to all my girls as my lambs or lammie's and I called E "Lammie" a lot. Now that she is such a big girl we mostly stick with the basic "Ev" and sometimes the dramatic "Evieleena" that she wishes was her given formal name.

M I think I have gone over before...I would say we mostly call her Mads, but any variation...Mads, Madel, Madelina, Madelie, Madder, Madeleenie, Mads Mare...and following my parents lead, I find that I only call her Madeline when I am being stern with her.

S is referred to mostly by her middle name around here...Rose, Rosy, Roe, SarRosy.

G has the most unusual nickname. The Goo...this nickname has evolved over time. Somehow Goose or Goosey started to stick on her and we'd call her Gracie Goosie, then Gray Goose, then Gray Goo, then just Gooey for a long time, which then got switched up to Goo, Google, Googley, GooBall, Goofy, and Googie. So we just stick with "The Goo" now, since it sums up all the wacky names we call her nicely. I also call her "baby girl" and she likes that title a lot! :)

I'm also all about the "lovey" names for my kids...honey, baby, sweetie, cutie, dollbaby, dear one, lovie, my love...don't you just want to vomit? :)

Nicknames to me mean endearment, love, and personal connection with someone. If I know a friend has a nickname, I tend to use it. It feels closer, more bonded.

How about you, what nicknames do you have for yourself/hubby, or give to your kids and how did those names come about?

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Sarah's 6th birthday!

2009-03-03T09:51:00.012-05:00

Happy 6th birthday to my girl, Sarah Rose! I really had to scramble with this party, as it was planned as an outdoor party with 16 kindergarteners. We had ordered a jumpy thingy and that was going to be the fun along with pizza and a pinata. Two days before the party it was clear that it was going to rain the day of the party, so I had to cancel the jumpy thing and quickly pull together some entertainment for the kids.

I was stressed but managed to pull it off with the help and calming influence of my dear friend, Holly! We had the party in the garage and played a bunch of "carnival" style games with the kids and still had pizza and the pinata. It was a hit and the kids had a lot of fun!

Sarah Rose has always been such a delight with her spunky personality and super-sized zest for life! She was joyful as always and had a great SpongeBob fun time! She is so pleased to be 6 and feels so old! I love my girl!

Madeline's 8th birthday Minnesota Weekend

2009-02-24T14:14:00.013-05:00

We came. We saw. We froze.

No, not really. I thought we actually handled it pretty well. I realize the difference between 40 here and 13 in MN is not so much, because at 40 here we are freezing because we are trying to run to the mailbox in our bare feet and going out on errands with a coat begrugingly thrown on and hanging open and lamenting how cold it is, whereas, at 13 in MN you assume you will be freezing so you prepare to exit the building with boots, heavy coat fully locked in place with buttons or zipper, gloves, scarf and possibly a hat, slip into your car and shiver until the seat warmer starts heating up your butt, and then dash in to your next indoor adventure.

I had a very special time with Madeline all by herself in MN. Mads is the 2nd born and of the four girls is the "quiet perfectionist". She is a rule follower and is always well behaved and is very conscientious of doing the right thing. She willingly chats and entertains if the floor is unmistakably hers, but she will never fight for the floor, and around here that means she never gets the floor. This lack of floor time produces a quiet moodiness and pouting that is also easy to go unnoticed.

My goal for the weekend was to hyper-focus on Mads and make her feel noticed and special. I hope I succeeded. She is a precious girl and I love her very much!

Grandma picked us up and we met up with Grandpa for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America, and then went in to Minneapolis to a Children's Theatre performance of The Gruffalo, which was excellent.

The next day we lunched at the American Girl at Mall of America with Grandma and Auntie Nonny and then got her dolls ears pierced and hair done there. She also spent her birthday money on a new American Girl doll and some accessories.

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel next door to the Mall of America. It had an indoor waterpark, and Mady's cousin Raley joined us for the night to partake of the fun in the waterpark.

Saturday we spent a big part of the day with the Wolfe cousins at Nickelodean Universe, an indoor amusement park at the Mall of America. Then we watched High School Musical 3 at the hotel with Auntie and Grandma.

It had snowed 4 inches on Friday while we were there, so our last morning we let Mads spend some time outside playing in the snow and we also went to an outdoor ice skating rink, and she tried her hand at ice skating.

Then we boarded the plane and headed home where daddy and the sisters were waiting for us at the airport. Daddy surprised Mady with a really cool homemade treasure chest cake that he had made with the girls over the weekend.

My girl Madeline is sweet, special, creative, quiet, trustworthy, and fun to be with. I love my girl.

Broken...

2009-02-13T09:48:00.003-05:00

My brave baby girl broke her arm yesterday! Sarah (5) came and got me and said, "Mom, Gracie is crying, she was doing a somersault and I heard her arm pop!" Well, that did get me up, but, can I just tell you how many times a day I am told someone is hurt? So although I knew enough to move immediately with the description she gave, I was still skeptical that we had a real injury on our hands.

As I approached her and saw her sitting cross-legged with her arm resting on her lap and kind of a dazed, whimpering expression on her face, I looked at her arm and didn't even get up close to her before I KNEW it was broken. It was so obvious, there was a bend in the forearm!

I just kept telling myself to be calm and not panic. I am so thankful for that brave little girl who did not cry or get hysterical, because that is what kept me from crying and being hysterical. Two wonderful neighbors came over and we taped her arm with packaging tape to a small cutting board, pumped her with tylenol and put a bag of crushed ice right on the bare arm (and kept it there all the way to the hospital, when we got there her arm was so numb we could have cut it off with a butter knife!)

We went right to Children's hospital, which I am so glad we did because the radial bone was broken clear through and at an angle and she needed to be sedated to have it set in place.

Most know Grace's favorite color in the world is orange and she kept saying she wanted an orange cast, but unfortunately that must not be a popular color because it wasn't a choice, so she went with Red. We told her it is a reddish orange. :)

She will have the full arm cast for a month, and then a short cast for another couple weeks after that. Right now her biggest distress is that she sucks her thumb on her right hand. It is her comfort position to have her thumb and snuggle bunny up by her face, and she is very sad that she cannot get her hand to her face with her full arm cast.

Some may think, cool, it will break her of that habit. Maybe if she was my first born I'd be humiliated that my almost 4 year old still sucks her thumb, but she is my baby, and I really don't care if she sucks her thumb until her wedding day! She is uncomfortable and she can't comfort herself in her usual way and it makes me sad! :(

I have been so proud of her. She is the bravest, strongest little girl, and it helped me to not give in to panic. She barely cried and was calm through the whole thing yesterday and, although her equilibrium is off with the big cast, and she cannot dress herself or go to the bathroom by herself like she is used to, she is such a trooper. Kids are so resiliant!

I love my little Goo! She is my hero!

Running...a forced perspective

2009-02-09T16:23:00.002-05:00

My sister is strong-arming me into writing a post about my running so she can link her post on her blog about running to mine. I initially told her "no", but here I am, we'll see what I can come up with...

Running. It is a secret dream of mine to be a runner, not unlike my secret desire to be a beautiful singer. However, becoming a runner is something that could actually become a reality...the singing, not so much, at least without a voicebox transplant (I still pretend on Sunday mornings when I belt out worship songs amongst the other 2,000 singing and think myself amazing. :))

I was always a power walker after all my babies were born. I literally power walked my butt off through the neighborhood with first a single stroller, then a double stroller, and even a couple desperate times, a double stroller and a baby bjorn strapped to my body (don't recommend that).

A couple years ago my sis-in-law and sister both took up running and I got inspired. On a visit to MN the summer of '07 my sil diligently came to get me every other morning at 5:30am to run about 4 miles. I begged her to show me mercy, but she was ruthless. I amazingly adjusted to pushing my body past its cardiovascular and physical limits, and could pump out 4 miles by the end of the 2 weeks there. There was that nasty little pain in my left ankle every time, but whatever...

When I got home I continued running and felt like such a champion to be able to run for 40 min without stopping. I bought some new running shoes, thinking it was my inadequate shoes that kept my ankle hurting and kept at it despite the pain. The end of the line was a trip up to the Jersey shore, where, one day into our vacation I pushed myself 3 miles on the hotel treadmill and could barely hobble back to my room when I was done. I spent the rest of the week at the beach and on the boardwalk all taped and wrapped up, iced, and ibuprofen/percocetted (is that a word) while trying to enjoy the beach and the boardwalk.

When I got home the writing was on the wall...a broken ankle. A stress fracture, likely from poor shoes and to quick a build up. I just can't do anything half ass (can I say the "a" word here?) I feel like, what is the point of only running a mile, what good is that going to do me? Anyway, I spent 6 weeks in a boot cast and by then it was late fall and I just couldn't get motivated to start running again.

Lets fast forward, shall we, this is getting a little boring isn't it?

So there has been no exercise to speak of on any consistent basis since the broken ankle incident, and 15 mysterious pounds and quite a bit of jiggle has been left in its wake. I made the cliched new years resolutions on Jan. 1 and started running again and watching what I eat.

Here I am mid Feb and I have managed to lose 6 lbs and work my way back up to running 4 miles in about 40 min without stopping, and I like to powerwalk another 20-30min to finish up a full hour. I am satisfied with getting out every other day. I am also trying to incorporate some strength training and my girlfriend has shown me some exercises to do at home with free weights and an exercise ball. Can't say I am very consistent on that, I am just glad I am running with a little consistency so far.

Food has been a greater issue. When my kids were babies, I just never thought about food or snacking. I was a naturally healthy eater and just ate to live, at the appropriate meal times. I don't know what has happened in recent years, but man, I struggle with wanting to snack all the time! I have to virtually eliminate all my favorite naughty foods from my life because I am not one that can just eat one or two of something dastardly like a lushious block of extra sharp cheddar cheese, or a bag of Cape Cod Potato chips....yummy!!! Pizza is NOT my friend. Nor is anything salty/crunchy or savory like olives. I can avoid most sweets with no problem, but you won't find me baking chocolate chip cookies because I tend to bathe myself in the batter and only end up with 7 actual baked cookies for my efforts. :)

So I have started logging on www.myfooddiary.com in order to realistically see what I shove into my mouth every day and keep myself in check. There are plenty of delicious, healthy things to eat, but man, sometimes I just miss downing half an appetizer order of chips and artichoke dip!

My goal is April 1 to be a consistent runner and down 15 lbs. My reward is a night in a nice hotel all by myself with no children, messy house, husband. Just me, myself, and I, room service, magazines, quiet, sleep, and maybe a massage thrown in.

There, Non, here's your post, are you happy now?

Photo's of a 10th birthday room makover

2009-02-02T13:20:00.012-05:00

THE ROOM REVEAL...in video!

2009-02-02T12:52:00.003-05:00

Room Makeover Day!

2009-01-30T07:00:00.002-05:00

I am soooo excited! This morning the secret guest arrives from MN for Evie's 10th birthday on Sunday, and we will work all day transforming her room into a hip pad to grow with this new 10 year old into teenhood!

I cannot wait to show you in pictures what I have been preparing for since last August...I only hope the vision in my mind becomes a reality by the end of the day!

E has a sleepover tonight so she won't know about her surprise guest until tomorrow morning when we pick her up and bring her home for the room reveal. I will try to get up pics of the room sometime tonight and then pics of the room reveal and special time we have planned sometime later in the weekend!

WooHoo!

Home Improvement

2009-01-28T06:35:00.002-05:00

The Hubs and I have been home improving the last week as a means of therapy. We spend more time together and are more on the same page when we have common projects to accomplish.

I am in decorator mode right now. I go through it a couple times a year when suddenly I must have change and I must have it now! I usually pull something from my master "things I want to change in the house" list and have at it.

This last week, it started with my husband coming home and changing out the shiny gold door knobs and hinges to dark bronze in the basement because we have been wanting to upgrade down there a bit and he knew this was the kind of door hardware I wanted in the whole house. He also has been busying himself the last couple weeks in our basement storage area, cleaning it out, laying carpet and attempting to create a workout room for me...(is that a subliminal message??)

It extrapolated into going out and buying a new vanity for the basement bathroom, and then the door knobs and hinges in dark bronze for the main level. From there it lead to replacing the solid door going down to the basement with a glass paned one, and somehow this also led to ripping up the carpet going up the front stairs. (We have a house built in the early 80's so there is always an updating project to keep us busy.)

Somehow this all led to me rearranging the family room furniture. And the living room. Oh and simultaneously I was painting my daughter's room in anticipation of the Big 10th Birthday Room Makeover this weekend...can't wait to "reveal" it to you readers, too!

I happily ignored the mountainous pile on my kitchen desk, the laundry, dust, toilet rings, and general crap that lays all over the house while I entertained myself with these fun projects.

So here is the status of all these projects:

Door hardware on basement and main level: completed and FABULOUS! What an upgrade!

(Door hardware on upper level: pending as we wait for money tree to grow more leaves)

Storage room to exercise room: in progress

Glass paned door to basement: painted and hung, paint scraping of glass panes still not finished

basement bathroom vanity: done, but water doesn't work, need to resolve

10th bday room: painted bright green and turquoise, full blown makeover to commence Friday with help from surprise guest arrival

Front Stairs: yeah, those...a work in progress. There is currently no carpet and Hubs has been diligently pulling out the 12,657 staples in the wood. Our plan is to paint the railing and the treads black, the rise white and put a carpet runner up them...anyone know what the latest, most current look is for wood stairs?

I do have pics but have not loaded them yet...I'll get to it, I know pics are worth a thousand words!

Photo Story Friday

2009-01-23T06:20:00.021-05:00

I am confused by the linking process, but I got Photo Story Friday idea from The Semi-happy Homemaker's blog (see link on right).

I give you...SILLY SHOTS:

A great, calorie-free recipe...

2009-01-20T07:14:00.001-05:00

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,

My purpose is to__________ today. I am thankful for______________'

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli , almonds & walnuts.

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

10 Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

11. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

12. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

14. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, what will this matter?'

17. Forgive everyone for everything.

18. What other people think of you is none of your business.

19. GOD heals everything - but you have to ask Him.

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!!!

22. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

23 Each night before you go to bed complete the following

statements:

I am thankful for__________. Today I accomplished_________.

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. You'll be smiling before you know it.

(disclaimer: I did not write this, it was emailed to me by a friend)

What I've got up my sleeve...

2009-01-16T14:14:00.002-05:00

...for the birthday extravaganza that is fast approaching.

Reminder of when I had my children:
Feb. 1, 1999
Feb. 22, 2001
Feb. 28, 2003
Mar. 12, 2005

I'll save you the calculating and just tell you...it's May people - husband's birthday and our anniversary, now you know.

Anyway...

I want to regale you with all the fantabulous details I have planned out for E's Feb. 1 shindig, not only the room makeover details, but how the whole weekend is going to go down for her 10th, but being that she is becoming computer savvy, what with her very own email account now, and much time spent on webkins, I am afraid she would read here before the big weekend. So you will just have to be on pins and needles to read about and see the room reveal and revel with me in all the delightful details I have planned for ushering her into double digits, in a couple weeks when I post after the fact.

M's Feb. 22 8th birthday is really starting to take shape. If you read my previous party post, you will remember that I took E to Chicago for her 8th birthday, so in spirit of keeping it "even" (whatever.) I wanted to give M a trip of her own. Originally I thought we'd go to Chicago again and do Amer Girl as it was such a wonderful experience with E. But M hemmed and hawed and I realized she wanted something unique and special for her, not to just follow in her big sisters footsteps.

So we contemplated Hershey, PA for a tour of the Hershey Chocolate World, because she loves sugar more than life itself, but then my mom mentioned Minneapolis...where I grew up. At first I was against this idea because I want the trip to be all about and for M and I didn't want to be distracted by being in my home town. But pretty soon, and against my better judgement-knowing they were/are having consistent negative temps and I am quite certain M and I will die while up there-a plan started taking shape in my mind. We are going to go up there to experience winter. M is a GRIT (Girl Raised In The South) so even though I spent my first 24 years experiencing winter, she really has no idea what its about (or how cold it really feels!) Snow, ice, icicles, are a novelty to her that she longs to experience. Who am I to deny her a near death experience?

So the two of us are headed off to MN for her birthday weekend. We are staying with my mom in a hotel with an indoor waterslide park which is right next to Mall of America. We will hit the new American Girl cafe in MOA, as well as Nickelodean Universe, the indoor theme park at MOA. In addition, we will take a bus downtown to see a Children's Theatre play, go outdoor snow tubing at Buck Hill, and go outdoor ice skating at Centennial Lakes. I will be able to get a peek at my new nephew, too! We will pack a lot into 3 days...hopefully with all the moving around, we won't be still enough to freeze to death! I really am scared about that being a very real possibility!

Sarah Rosy is going to have a moon jump birthday for her 6th. We rented a Sponge Bob moon jump for our backyard and we will have many children, her whole kindergarten class as well as other friends not in her class...I think about 16 kids in all. At this time I am just thinking of pizza, snacks, drinks, and lots of jumping...but if it is very cold, I may do a fire pit for roasting hotdogs and marshmellows and serve hot cocoa in between the gleeful jumping. We will also do the requisite pinata and goodie bags, which I love to do.

Goo is having her very first birthday party this year for her 4th. Poor thing only has two friends so far in her life, but they are very sweet friends and her fairy godmother is also coming into town and possibly gma, aunty, and cousin Izzy who is G's age. Goo's party will be all about Orange...her very favorite color in the whole wide world. The invites will be orange, everyone will wear orange, all paper goods, balloons, food, games, etc will be orange. I am so excited. I am even going to blow up a bunch of orange balloons and fill the trampoline with them and let them jump around with the orange blobs.

I can't wait for my head ideas to become reality so I can show you how it all goes down in pictures. Be waiting for those posts.

Happy party planning!

Preliminary Details of a Room Makeover

2009-01-14T06:05:00.006-05:00

My big girl, E, is turning 10 on Feb. 1. I can't believe it, I've been a mommy for a decade! We determined last summer that what she wanted most for her birthday was a room makeover. We poured over catalogs and found inspiration rooms in Pottery Barn Teen, and then Mommy used her frugal skills to recreate the looks through Target and Hobby Lobby!

I have been shopping for this room since August and I am so excited that we are finally getting down to the wire. There are BIG PLANS coming for how the whole room makeover and reveal is going to go down...but I can't discuss them here until the event takes place, because E reads here sometimes (hi, honey! Don't look any further unless you really want to see what I've been up to and not be surprised!)

I have LOTS of crafty projects that are going into the room and I got started on a couple yesterday. Evie is a budding photographer, and this fall she had a field trip to the Botanical Gardens where she took some amazing photographs. This inspired me to use them somehow in her room. I printed out the pictures on regular computer paper in full blown 8 1/2 x 11 size and then got 4 square art canvases that I then painted to coordinate with the new room colors and then decoupaged the pictures onto the canvasas. I am very pleased with the look!

I also got a simple glass vase and decoupaged some paper and ribbon onto it and then picked out an assortment of silk flowers that coordinated with the new room colors. This is going to set near her reading chair.

There is lots more to come with this room makeover, but here are some tastes to whet your appetite for more...its going to be spectacular and I will include before and after pics!

Father-Daughter Dance 2009

2009-01-11T04:30:00.011-05:00

It was a very special evening for the three older girls and Daddy! The annual Father-Daughter dance at their k-8 school. Daddy is only one of two dads in the whole school to be lucky enough to have had THREE beautiful gems on his arm! (and in a couple more years he will have all FOUR gems on his arm for this occasion, that might be a record for the school!)

My role every year in this extravaganza is Hair Expert Extraordinaire! I always have a couple other little girlfriends come by for some hair time, so this year I did 5 little girls hair over a 3 hour period from 3-6pm! You see, I have this extravagantly expensive, special ion spiral curling iron which makes the most amazing coils you have ever seen! I wish I had a pic of how our little friend Elizabeth's amazingly long and thick red hair turned out, and how our "5th daughter" Molly's waist length blond hair looked like a coiled Rapunzel wig! I always have fun doing it!

Once everyone was ready, Daddy took them out to a very special dinner at our favorite fancy steakhouse, Stoney River, and then off to the dance they went to dance the night away. They were all giddy with excitement when they got home and it sounded like it was a wonderful night for all of them!

And back to Six...

2009-01-10T08:30:00.006-05:00

...animals that is.

Oh come on! Is there really anyone out there that knows me that HONESTLY believed we'd go more than 48 hours without replacing poor, dead Apple?...I didn't think so! :)

Introducing Mads newest furry pig friend, Brownie (seriously, could you have denied that sweet face?--Mady's, not the pigs...okay, the pig has a sweet face to...I digress...):

Broken Vessels

2009-01-09T06:29:00.015-05:00

My Bible study kicked off the new year yesterday with a little illustration. I had read this story http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008/05/past-and-pitcher.html which led to the idea for our own broken pitchers.

Look at these pitchers. Aren't they lovely, all whole and perfect, the way God created us to be. But after the Fall in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world and now we are broken, but not without hope. Because God wants to put us back together, and even in our imperfections, our weaknesses, our failures, He pieces us back together into vessels He can use and pour Himself out of.

That was the idea to focus on as the five of us gathered at my house yesterday. We started by listening to the song The Potter's Hand, and then I read the story I linked above to them. We then wrote on little slips of paper the things in our lives that have broken us and put them in those perfect pitchers.

Then...we smashed them.

And then, God helped us put them back together.

It was cathartic and cleansing and my now imperfect vessel, which sits on a shelf in my family room, is a visual reminder of who I am in Christ. Broken, yet mended and being used by the One who loves me so.

Yet, Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

We have two crafty girls in our group...Holly and me. We got ours put together by OCDing and not leaving the table until we had something standing. The other three girls got the verse part put back together and decided that another illustration of this exercise was that, although they cannot put the broken pieces of their selves back together, God can. It works both ways...give it a try.

And then there were five...

2009-01-07T07:15:00.004-05:00

...animals, that is.

We lost Apple yesterday. He was the first "real" pet we have lost (I just can't bring myself to count Bubbles the Fish's death as much of a tragedy). He was Mady's guinea pig and she is very sad.

To learn about how Apple and the other many animals came about, you can read here. We knew his death was coming, and if you can get past the horror of it all, it is actually a little amusing - in a sadistic way, that is.

So, the girls loved our guinea pigs and one of their favorite things to do when friends were over was to give the pigs baths in the sink. Unbeknownst to me, Mads was using hand soap on Apple, and aparantly his skin didn't tolerate that well. He started out with a rash, and then it lead to boils and sores. It was pretty gross, poor thing. Daddy was just starting to research how to help Apple our, when around christmas, Mads accidently dropped Apple from waist high and it appeared that he broke his leg, what with the leg dragging and all. She felt terrible. Then it got worse.

He started actually dragging his whole lower half of his body so we started worrying that he was actually paralyzed. A paralyzed guinea pig with skin disease. Nice. Then it got to the point that he wouldn't get out of his hut and just laid there pathetically, ocassionally wheezing. Daddy prepared Mads that he might not make it while we were in Florida, but he was still kickin' when we got home.

The saddest part was that she couldn't even hold him, we were afraid to take him out because we didn't want to cause him any pain. So basically, since we got home on Sat. we have been on a death watch. It has been pathetically sad.

Yesterday afternoon Daddy came home and went up and came back down to tell me he was gone. Mads had a friend over and E was headed to swimming, I didn't know how to handle this parenting dilema. I called the friends mom and we decided to tell Mads while the friend was there to give her a distraction and comfort.

When I said Mads I have to talk to you about something, she looked at me and said "he died?" it was very sad. Daddy put him in a shoebox and she petted him and said goodbye. When E got home from swimming we printed out the pic above and all wrote Apple a note on it and put it in the box with him. Then we went outside and buried him and told him what a good pet he was and that we loved him.

So a new parenting experience that we got through. She is still sad and crying off and on. He was a good Apple. RIP Apple.

Are we having fun yet?....YES!

2009-01-04T06:57:00.040-05:00

Since pictures are supposed to say a thousand words, I think pictures best sum up our wonderful, relaxing, perfect weather trip to Marco Island, Florida. We are glad to be back home with daddy and have the long 10 hour drive behind us, but we sure miss the gorgeous sun, beaches and nature that God provides down there!

One day we let the older three go down to the pool to sit and they all morphed into bathing beauties before my eyes...when did this happen?

The Goo was not please that she was not allowed to partake of this big girl ritual of sun worship and instead pouted in grandpa's arms while watching them wistfully, wishing her young years away.

Family friends who also have a condo in the same building took us to a fancy dinner one night at an Italian restaurant. It was lovely and the girls were very well behaved.

Molly and the girls.
Mommy sneaks into a pic.

Gma and Gpa with the girls

Mommy and her four gems.

Three mermaids and a crab on the beach.

My four gems.

Look what you made, God! Thanks!

A little play park action.

Monkey bars and palm trees...a nice combination!

Mommy sneaks into a pic taken by the Goo.

Digging to China.

Goo finishes up.

Gorgeous!

My four gems in paradise!

Gpa taking his little ducklings for some shelling.

I love this pic of the four gems at sunset...I don't know how I got all four of them in the shot on the beach with no one else in the background!

My Goo.

She's fabulous.

What a cutie.

Sunny Sarah.

My big girls.

My little girls.

What do you think is going on here? Stretching? Gymnastics? Nope. They were playing in the sand trying not to sit down on their wet butts! Didn't want to get full of sand.

Gpa and four of his 22 grandchildren.

Gorgeous.

Amazing.

My four gems.

The Goo getting braided with, what else, orange beads. All four girls got a few cornrows.

The Goo catches Mommy again.

Happy New Year! Molly and Kate got the girls these awesome Vera Bradley aprons so they can further hone their skills in the kitchen.

Sunny Florida!

2008-12-30T09:20:00.002-05:00

We are having a great time in Marco Island! The weather could not be better! We are enjoying swimming, sand, beach, sunsets, early runs, too much food, and mid-eighties temps! I will update more later and add some pics. I am on my MIL's computer right now, can't figure out how to hook up to the wireless connection on mine.

The 10 hour drive with the girls went much better than I expected! They were great. We left at 5:41am and arrived in the parking lot at 3:41pm. We had minimal stops. The one glitch was when my spedometer decided to freak out and wouldn't set to zero. So to go 70 mph it looked like I was going 110mph! Took awhile to figure that out, but once I did it was smooth sailing again.

Today the girls are getting braids in their hair...we are going to do some crafts...and we are going to go see Marley and Me. Oh, and we'll hit the pool and the beach too! :)

Stay warm everyone!

Christmas Eve and Day in the South

2008-12-25T14:39:00.034-05:00

We have had a wonderful Christmas! We enjoyed having family friends over for a Christmas Eve breakfast, where the kids broke in their new trampoline...a big hit! Check out the video~...

the trampoline gang.

The men (just 2 amongst 8 ladies) brushing up on their Xbox 360 skills...

dear friends.
my babies.

sweet friends.

precious goddaughter.

silly friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After church, we changed into christmas jammies and spread out some reindeer food outside, to make sure rudolph could find us.

the girls were very serious about their food scattering technique...

Our wonderful teenaged neighbors and babysitters came over with presents for the girls...
We finished up the eve with Narnia...Prince Caspian movie, a lovely christmas eve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were up early to kick of Christmas morning! The day before we had written individual notes to Jesus for his birthday telling Him what we are each giving Him for His birthday. We hung them in the tree and then we each opened ours and shared them with each other this morning before starting in on our gifts. It was so precious to hear what the girls had to say. It was a wonderful way to get the gift giving party started!

THE BOOTY...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

REVELING IN THE BOOTY...

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

2008 Bragg Family Christmas photo and letter

2008-12-23T05:57:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas, 2008!

It is always a joy, as I start cranking out our letter, to think about all of you family and friends that will be receiving it! I hope you are well and smiling right now. :)

My working title for this year was going to be “The Year of the Animal” due to an influx of furry animal friends into our home. Our repertoire, at its height of insanity this year, included 6 guinea pigs, 3 kitties, 1 dog, 1 fish (thrown in to make us seem “normal”), oh, and don’t forget the four children. We have since whittled it down to a much more manageable 3 guinea pigs, 2 kitties, and 1 dog. And we kept the kids. I have a friend who suggested a billy goat for the backyard…hey, it would cut down on mowing! We are taking it into consideration…

Another working title I considered was “The Year of the Emerging Hormones”. We have a “tween-ager”…that confusing time between 8-12 years when parents begin to realize how easy they had it when all they had to do was wipe, kiss, and contain them as baby/toddler/pre-schoolers. I am currently trying to develop a way to bottle up my three-year old before I have no more precious morsels around here and am completely overtaken by this strange new phenomenon called tweenagers.

Of course, an obvious working title choice could have been “The Year of Blessing”. Let’s face it. We are all blessed beyond measure here in this country no matter if you are finding yourself a bit down on your luck right now or not. Our blessings this year have included a beautiful home, many loving friends and family, good health for all six of us, a wonderful church, a great school and teachers, a steady job, healing of areas that needed to be healed, the ability and resources to give of ourselves to serve others, many laughs, many joys, many privileges, many opportunities, many blessings. Thank you, God.

And, back by popular demand, I knew I had to work in another installment of “Let’s Get Ugly…” and so considered a working title of “The Year of the Uglies”. Topics under this title would have included a home interior that CJ has referred to as a landfill or frat house; cereal, eggs, or nothing made for dinner this year much more often than I’d care to admit;, a blossoming realization that we have not done a very good job instilling the concept of personal responsibility in our children thus far in our parenting tenure; a startling revelation that we, in fact, do not, have a thriving money tree growing in our backyard; a pondering of whether it is appropriate to refer to our dog as Lucifer, Stupid Dog, and Idiot in front of our children when we begin to hear the three year old call her the same; beginning to feel the need to hide from others the fact that our three year old still sleeps with us a lot; rethinking the SUV monster I drive when it took $110 to fill it up for several weeks this fall;, feeling concerned that I was not more embarrassed when Sarah, who wore the same uniform for a week straight because she has “clothing issues,” was told by her teacher that it was filthy dirty and needed to be washed before she could wear it again; wondering whether the neighbors can hear our yelling - I mean “loud voices” - from inside the house (incidentally, I asked them once, and it turns out they had wondered the same thing-whether we heard their “loud voices”…doesn’t that just make you feel so normal? Me too. :)) So with many tears, many hurts, many fights, many losses, many fears, many wrongs, many wounds, many uglies…we still thank you for it all, God, because You are in control, You love us, and You are trustworthy..

Ultimately, I decided what summed the year up best was the title, “A Year of Grace”. Grace means receiving something you didn’t earn and don’t deserve. And that is pretty much everything we have, if we look deep into ourselves. Grace always comes from the Lord, but He often gives it to us through things like loving friends, supportive families, inner strength, inner peace, good health, financial provision, knowledgeable doctors, humbleness, giving someone your forgiveness, being forgiven, the sound of a child singing, the warm embrace of a spouse, a beautiful fall colored tree, a good piece of dark chocolate on a bad day, hope…ultimately, it comes in one perfect package named Jesus. Remember this grace on Jesus birthday this year.
2 Corinthians 12:9…But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Are you still with me? We have turned the page by now, after all, and I realize many of you have one page rules for Christmas letters. But surely you are going to allow me a few more lines to Bragg about my girls, aren’t you? :)

Evie Jill…our 4th grader is heading towards double digits this February! She is a swimming machine, excelling in year round swimming, and also continues to be a voracious reader and writer. She loves being with her friends, is developing her personal fashion style, loves all her animals, and enjoys having a male teacher for the first time and learning about her favorite subjects – history and science.

Madeline Mary…our 2nd grader is a perfectionist and we remind her often to allow herself some grace. Mady has beautiful, precise handwriting, and is beginning to enjoy reading on her own more as she becomes a stronger reader. She is an excellent student, a fun friend, enjoys tennis lessons, is enormously creative, imaginative and artistic, and is a gentle, loving soul to have around this very noisy, chaotic house.

Sarah Rose…our kindergartener is an exuberant, expressive girl who delights in life and will not be tamed through any means (that are legal :)). She plays creatively, believes she is capable of anything, tries to wrestle control from us over…well, everything. The Rose makes us howl with laughter everyday with her very mature and insightful sense of humor, and lets us know that it may eventually turn out alright when we witness her tender and compassionate heart for God at such a young age.

Grace Josephine…our 3 year old, The Goo. I love her. She is just a delightful, sweet, sassy, imaginative, singy, huggy, kissy little goo. She loves clothes, makeup, animals, make believe, rocking out to Hannah Montana and High School Musical, and insisting that she is a big girl. Her and I are “getting acquainted” this year, as this is the first time I have been alone with just one child while the others are at school in, like, 9 years. She asks frequently if we can go on an “adbenture togeder”. She rocks.

CJ and I are managing this busy household by staying firmly planted in our “provider” and “nurturer” roles. We are thankful for gainful employment, a nice house, terrific kids, full cupboards, cars full of gas, a great school, and a village of friends down here that help keep our life running as smoothly as possible.

**BEEP…BEEP…BEEP…To learn more about this strange, but oddly relatable family (right?! :)) you can view my new blog where I chronicle all sorts of fun in our lives at www.myfourgems.blogspot.com BEEEEP, this has been a public service announcement**

Be blessed today, dear friends and family. I will be smiling as I receive your cards, letters and photos this year…thanks in advance for including us on your list! Enjoy Christ in Christmas and remember what the angel told the shepherds that greatest of Birth Days: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good new of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10, 11.

Much Love From
The Braggs
xoxoxoxoxo

"Hey, Julia!"...a sweet treat...

2008-12-22T07:25:00.001-05:00

Is this one working for you?

Charms for my GEMS

2008-12-21T09:50:00.005-05:00

I have been wanting a piece of jewelry that represents my four gems for quite some time, but never came across the right piece...until recently. I discovered the person who makes these necklaces with a link from another blog. It just arrived this week and I love it! It is my girls names on hand stamped charms with a smokey quartz and coral bead. It is hand made with love by a lovely woman and you can order yours here: www.suzannemyers.com

Here I am wearing it...

Here it is spread out so you can see all the name charms...

Happy me with my fabulous new charm necklace...

Me and my "charms"...my four gems...

Thank you, Suzanne!

Christmas Morsels

2008-12-21T06:52:00.012-05:00

I have no idea how to link to the christmas tour of homes, but for my 5 blog readers out there :) here is a taste of our decorations this year...

Our beautiful tree...sorry its blurry...We have a vaulted family room and so can handle this amazing 9 ft (i think, maybe taller) tree. We are fake tree people. This one is pre-lit. We got it from my inlaws a couple years ago when they downsized their home and it didn't fit anymore...lucky us! I am very traditional with my tree. My favorite ornaments are the homemade ones and the ones given as gifts from loved ones...I round it out with red, silver and white balls and red ribbon. We have a star at the top. I play Andy Williams every year while we decorate...a tradition from my youth.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...if you have been over at my sister's blog, these will look familiar. My family all had these handmade stockings growing up and my mom had one made for my husband and each of my girls (as well as my sister and brothers families) as they were added. I love them so much, they are my favorite things to bring out each Christmas. I remember my sis and bro and I wearing them around the house when they'd come out of the box, they came all the way up to our hips. My girls haven't discovered this fun yet..I may have to suggest it to them before we put them away this year.

My beautiful new nativity set this year...a gift from my husband, and my mom-the wisemen-I love it so much...

Closer look...

My mom got this advent box for me for my birthday this year. This is the first year we are trying it out. I love the concept, but we have not been very good about checking it each night. In each box I put a portion of the christmas story out of the bible, four pieces of a puzzle-one for each girl per night-and a sweet treat for them. When we remember to do it they love it...I think we have about a week's worth of boxes to do tonight...oh well, even that will be a memory in and of itself!

My mil is amazing and hand makes porceline dolls, starting with liquid porceline, she pours it into molds and fires it in her kiln. Then she hand paints them and makes the clothes, ususally with no pattern! Here is our santa...she has made one for everyone in the family and it is a favorite, treasured item to bring out each year.

A little something I put together for the entry table...

My mil helped my girls make this little quilt for me last year...each girl did a square and their picture is in the center of their square...very touching, this kind of sentiment is so me.

My mil also had my girls make these little christmas tote bags a couple years ago and I had the girls color the wood Noel signs...again, the sentimental value of these is high and I love to display them each year...

Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas!

Fantastic Fairies

2008-12-20T06:41:00.010-05:00

Yesterday I drove with Sarah and Grace 2 hours north to Greenville, SC, and my friend and her daughter drove 2 hours south to Greenville to meet up for a special fairy godmother day! Donna is the very special "favorite godmudder" to my Grace, and her 14 year old daughter, Ashley, is the very special fairy godsister to Sarah. They are wonderful and loving to my girls and give them the best gift of all...consistently praying for them to grow into the wonderful ladies that God created them to be. Love you both!

We met up at a Chili's and had lunch and exchanged gifts. Then we headed to a Monkey Joes. This was Grace's first time and she had a blast! My full of life, Sarah, was a sweaty mess by the time they had exhausted themselves. Donna and I even got in a little shopping next door when we left Ashley to steer the ship for a bit.

Grace & her fairy godmudder, Donna

Sarah Rose and her fairy godsister, Ashley

Big bouncing fun!

If we all lived life as joyfully as Sarah Rose does, this would be a very happy planet. :)

Sarah Rosy, Ashley, and Grace

Two videos...Sliding Sarah and Bouncie Gracie...

Party and Pagent...kindergarten style

2008-12-19T06:25:00.007-05:00

S had her kindergarten Christmas party and pagent yesterday. I helped her teacher with the party and got some great pictures. This class is so wonderful. Our teacher has been teaching K for 15 years. She is new to the school this year, as is the whole kindergarten program. It had only been a 1st-8th gr school before they added 5 kindergarten classes this year. We were so blessed to get our teacher. She is amazing and has total loving control of this class of 10. It is a pleasure to get to visit and be in the class as room mom.

Mrs. E starts the kids out each morning writing and drawing in their journal. Here is S having hers checked. This morning they wrote about the nativity and drew a picture...S drew a great looking stable with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. I am so thankful for our school and the fact that the children get to focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Party snack time. I made the kids lots of sugar so they would be all wired for their pagent! Jello jigglers, birthday cupcakes for Jesus, chocolate covered pretzels, goldfish, and juice boxes.

Getting ready for the pagent. Our class were shephards and one of the amazing moms made these awesome costumes for them!Mrs. E's awesome kindergarten Shephards!

Here are the shephards in their role...they sang The First Noel...Sarah is right in the middle. You can see how seriously she took her role and if you know her voice, you can hear her singing, she was the loudest one. So precious. Parents really do go nuts over this kind of thing, I am no exception! :)

Girlfriends and lockers and crafts...oh my.

2008-12-17T22:00:00.013-05:00

GIRLFRIENDS!

Today was my Bible study day and we had a Christmas breakfast and cookie exchange. The girls also surprised me with a couple birthday "happy's (happies?)" for me.

Here are my sisters, my teammates, my sanity keepers...
One of the girls dads has taken a real liking to us as a group and is always so sweet to us. He spent a lot of time and thought to make these beautiful pictures in frames for each of us in the picture below. It is of the 5 of us with the verse "Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2"

I tell you this...these girls epitomize this verse. They carry me and my burdens as I imagine Jesus Christ, Himself, would have carried them for me when He walked on this earth. I love these wonderful ladies!

One of the girls got this hysterical mug for each of us. The picture is crappy, but it so very appropriately and accurately reads: "I'll have a caffe' mocha vodka valium latte to go, please!"

This was one of my birthday happy's. The girls made this frame that says "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." Ahhhh, it brings tears to my eyes even now. These girls have sung back to me my song countless times when I have forgotten the words. Have I mentioned how much I love them?? I am blessed.

Another fun birthday happy. A wine glass painted with watches and such, indicating that it is surely 5 o'clock somewhere!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOCKERS!!!

Any family with children is going to drool over this next discovery of ours....Lockers!!! We had a basic conceptual idea of wanting lockers in the garage for our four girls because of the constant disaster that four children with multiple shoes, coats, bags, CRAP, drag in to the garage and dump there. CJ was sick of seeing it and suggested a locker concept. I liked it, but thought they'd be pretty expensive. We casually looked around for awhile and one day at Lowe's "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" There they were, in a price we were willing to pay! Aren't they beautiful???!!!!! Four lockers...

Don't you want to just run out right now and get some of your very own for your own garage crappy disaster?! I got the chalkboards in wood frames at Michaels and painted them the colors of the girls shoe bins which we got at Lowes. We added sportier stainless steel handles and heavy duty hooks in each locker and viola! They are awesome!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRAFTS!

Yes, I've been crafy again...here are a couple of my new creations:

For my new baby nephew

For a family friend for Christmas

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's all for now. I have to rest up for the class christmas party in Sarah's kindergarten class tomorrow morning. I am thinking of giving a small tour of my christmas decorations like my sis did on her blog...we'll see. It kind of makes me want to clean my house and do some more decorating and you are not even REALLY going to be here!

Good night!

My 29+7th birthday...it was a good day!

2008-12-16T19:43:00.006-05:00

It was a low-key, pleasant day for my birthday! I woke early, as always, and enjoyed some computer time, quiet, and coffee. I spent the morning in my pajama's doing some Christmas baking because it was Wednesday, and I don't have to drive noon carpool on Wednesday. At 11:45am I was amazed at how fast the morning had gone and how my carpool friend would be bringing Sarah and Grace home from school soon (our private school gets out at 12:00 K-2nd). At 12:15 I was expecting them to walk through the door any moment. At 12:20 the phone rings and I see its the school office. The following conversation transpires:

School office: Hi, Mrs. Bragg, I have the girls here.
Me: Oh! They didn't get picked up by Janie? That's so unusual, she never forgets!
S.O.: Well, they said that it's your day to pick up.
Me: No, I don't pick up on Wednesday's, Janie does, but I can come get them.
S.O.: Uh, it's TUESDAY!
Me: Oh, OH! It's TUESDAY! I've been thinking it's Wednesday ALL MORNING LONG!

Thankfully CJ was home and able to run get them. Is this what happens to you on the downward spiral to 40?? Typically I will forget something, but once I'm triggered with reality my brain snaps into focus. I was totally clueless on the carpool issue today...what might this belie for the year to come??

So I finish my baking and take Sarah on an outing, which she had earned by getting 8 "no morning fits" stickers in a row. We shopped and erranded (is that a word?) for several hours. When I got home, it was time for my annual dinner. Here's a picture: For several years now, CJ has purchased and steamed for me a few pounds of king crab legs. I LOVE them. He melts me some butter and lemon, steams them up and I have at it while everyone else sits, stares, and drools at me because its mine, all mine, I don't have to share unless I want to. :) I round it out with a glass of Pinot Noir. Delicious!

Evie went to her friend, Hannah's house after school today. She was dropped off as I was starting my crab dinner and the girls surprised me with homemade chocolate cupcakes that they had made just for me! Thanks little ladies!

This here is the official "blowing out the candles" photo...there is a photo of me like this every year since I was old enough to blow out candles and as an adult I keep up this tradition of photgraphing the moment! :) It isn't pretty, but its tradition! :)

My mom has always been the first to call me on my birthday. It usually starts out like this "I wasn't feeling so well about 36 years ago...". I was up at 5am this morning and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited for my phone call from my mommy and it never came! I finally broke down and tried to call HER in the afternoon and couldn't get ahold of her at home or on her cell. So, naturally, I started worrying that something happened to her, because what else would keep her from calling me first thing on my birthday??!!

Much, much later in the day my brother calls...my only family member at this point to call! He is usually the only one who DOESN'T call so he was quite pleased with himself. He informed me that mom was busy caring for his children that day. Huh...

Much later in the day...evening to be exact, I finally get my call. And it turns out, I am lucky I blogged that I was a birthday girl this morning, because that is what tipped her off that she had forgotten something today, when she checked my blog this evening! Oh well, it was still sweet to get birthday wishes and love from my mommy. :) And I got lots of birthday well-wishes from my facebook friends, and heard from my dad, my sister, my sil Julia, and my inlaws, too.

To top it off, it is the Biggest Loser Finale tonight, I am currently on commercial break from it to finish this post.

It was a great day.

Happy Birthday to me. May 36 be a good year.

Birthday Girl!

2008-12-16T08:30:00.002-05:00

Screamin' Leaves!

2008-12-16T05:54:00.006-05:00

Click the play button!

Santa Claus is coming to town...plus a dinner party

2008-12-15T06:39:00.013-05:00

We had a great Sunday!

It was our annual Christmas brunch and Santa visit at my inlaws clubhouse. They have the best Santa, it has been the same one for all 10 years we have been going. We have pics with him starting with Evie when she was 10 months old. He's the best, so loving and engaging with each child and takes his time, and the photographer is great, too...taking a couple digital shots for the photo package, and then also a polaroid for each child to take with them.

We also gorge ourselves on an incredible food spread...cheeses, salads, fruit, shrimp, crab claws, belgain waffle and omelet bar, salmon, breads, kid cuisine bar, ham, steak, chicken, fish, desserts, ice cream, all kinds of side dishes...you can easily have a 12 course meal. We always enjoy eating to our hearts content and then rolling ourselves out of there.

I can't believe I didn't get any pics of the kids with grandma and grandpa! They are a little camera shy, I kept saying I wanted to, but it never happened. :(

The girls were so into seeing Santa this year! When we first arrived, Grandpa was standing with his back to us in a room next to where Santa was. We told Gracie to sneak up on grandpa and as she headed for him she saw Santa and runs right into the room where other children were on his lap and a picture was being taken and goes right up to Santa. We shoo'd her out and told her we'd see him after we ate.

"G" with Santa Claus

Grace told Santa that she wanted the American Girl doll "Roofie" (Ruthie) and when we were leaving she says "Hey! Where's my American Girl doll??" We laughed and teased Santa about why he doesn't have her AG doll in his back pocket! He laughed (Ho-ho-ho) and told G he'd see her in a couple weeks. :)

"E" with Santa...

Evie told Santa she wanted a Nintendo DS for Christmas...she seems a little too certain that that is what she is getting. :)

Sweet "M" with Santa...

My sweet Madeline...she patiently waited her turn for face time with Santa. She told him she wanted a Littlest Pet Shop.

"S" with Santa

Silly Sarah strikes again! As soon as she got up on his lap she looks right in his face and gives him a big "HO-HO-HO!" I sure hope she had brushed her teeth that morning! She told him she was an American Girl shop and as we were leaving she informed me that it was good to ask Santa for what they wanted because then he would bring it to them and then we wouldn't have to spend any money on their presents! hmmm, sounds good to me.

MY FOUR GEMS

Wacky posing with Daddy

Mommy and her girls

Later in the day, when I was still stuffed from brunch we had a dinner party to go to. This was with my Bible study girls and their husbands. I am the most blessed girl in the world to be in the presence of these four women each week. This is our third year together in a small group, but most of these girls have been in my life for 5-10 years and I love them so much! Even though I didn't think I could eat another bite until next week, I totally enjoyed the delicious food we all put together. It was a great evening.

CJ and ShelMy girls...

4th grade girls Life of Faith kickoff!

2008-12-13T05:18:00.010-05:00

This is the 3rd year at our school that an all 4th grade girls Life of Faith group (based on http://www.alof.com/club_overview.html ) has been started by moms at our school. It is a group that's primary focus is to foster friendships and love for one another and the Lord.

4th grade is the year that friendships become tighter and cliques begin to form and people get left out and feelings get hurt. The goal of this 2 year group is for this class to bond together and get to know and love one another for the individuals that God created each of them to be and to always show kindness and respect to one another.

Friday was our kick-off with an after school Christmas party. Starting in January, we will meet once a month at rotating houses where there will be food, fellowship, games, craft, and lesson. Guess who's craft mom for this group? Go ahead, guess...yep, yours truly. :) I got to do the ornament craft for this party and will get to come up with all the crafts for this group. I'm excited!

We have a very small private christian school...about 500 students total in K-8th grade. All of the 4th grade girls total about 37 (spread between 4 fourth grade classes). At the Christmas party 31 of the girls were able to come. It was great fun. The girls changed into festive clothes after school and we dove right into the craft. They enjoyed making the ornaments and did a good job with them (see Crafty Mom post for an example of the ornaments they made).

Part of the goal of the group is to get the girls out of their comfort zones and get to know girls outside of their core friendships. To that end, the girls were assigned tables of 5 to sit at. It was interesting to see that this was initially really hard for some of the girls, to not be with their closest friends and having to branch out to get to know better the girls at their table.

Each girl brought a wrapped christmas mug to exchange and then have hot cocoa in. I don't think I saw one duplicate mug in all those 31 girls! They were all such cute and fun mugs!

There were sweet treats and an overview about this group starting and some conversation starter questions. All in all, it was great fun and I am excited to get to know each of these 37 girls better. We are blessed to be part of this school and the wonderful families in it!

Here are some pics of the fun! My E is in the red sweater with the snowflake and elf hat.

Crafty Mom is at it again!

2008-12-10T11:15:00.006-05:00

I have been busy-ing myself with lots of easy to do crafts these days. I feel so peaceful and calm when I am crafting...well, when I am doing it with my girls it is a little more stressful, but I do want to instill in them a love of crafts so it is worth the mental insanity of glitter and glue everywhere for what will hopefully turn into a lifelong love of creativity for them.

This first picture is some practice ornaments I did for the craft I am leading for all the 4th grade girls at Evie's school (about 35, its a small, private school) on Friday for a christmas party some of us mom's put together for them. It's a glass ornament that I put ribbon on with double stick tape and then glitter in between the ribbons. I looped a little candycane charm on it and hung it by a ribbon. Easy and cute...I think the girls will enjoy it. I got all the supplies ready this morning, this is surprisingly on top of life for me! Here is the simple teacher gift I am having the girls make. It is a box letter of the teacher's last name. The girls painted the sides, decoupaged paper on the front and back, and then decoupaged christmas words on it...the B is Mady's and the E is Sarah's. I think they turned out cute and they were a pretty easy project for the girls to do all on their own after I prepped it with the cutting.

And this is just for Wordless Wednesday humor...i walked in to the bathroom to find this:

Yes, those are polly pockets drowning in a sea of water and hair elastics! Hahahahahaha! I have no idea why, I decided not to ask. :)